South Korea asks US to avoid ‘excessive measures’ on virus

Bloomberg

South Korea urged the US to “refrain from taking excessive measures” after the State Department raised its travel advisory on the Korean city of Daegu, where most of the nation’s novel coronavirus cases are centred.
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha spoke to US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun by phone, according to a statement from the South Korean foreign ministry. She said that while the virus is spreading in the country, it is concentrated in a specific region and the government is making an all-out effort to prevent further infections, the ministry said.
The call took place just hours after the State Department raised its travel advisory on South Korea’s Daegu to Level 4, its most severe grade. The department urged citizens to not travel to the city, citing risks of community transmission and local quarantine procedures. On February 24, it issued a Level 3 advisory for South Korea, advising citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the country.
Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in asked North Korea for “healthcare cooperation” at an event to mark the anniversary of the nation’s independence movement under Japanese rule 101 years ago.
“The lives of the Korean people will be safer when the two Koreas can respond together when infectious diseases spread among humans and animals, and jointly cope with disasters and catastrophes in border areas, and climate change on the Korean Peninsula,” he said in a speech.
The South Korea Foreign Ministry on Sunday summoned Vietnam’s ambassador to Seoul, Nguyen Vu Tu, to “express regret” over the diversion of an Asiana Airlines plane from Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, its original destination, to another airport on February 29. Asiana Airlines officials told Yonhap News Agency they believed the move was related to the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea.

South Korea exports increase on chip sales
Bloomberg

South Korea’s exports rose for the first time in more than a year on semiconductor sales, an increase that may be short-lived as the coronavirus outbreak takes its toll on world trade.
Exports increased 4.5% in February from a year earlier, the trade ministry said on Sunday. Economists had forecast a 2.8% gain.
The actual flow of goods is likely worse than the headline figure suggests, skewed by the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday which added three business days to the month this year in many Asian economies, or roughly an 18% increase in work time compared with 2019.
South Korea’s average daily shipments dropped 11.7% last month, the report showed. Activity in China’s manufacturing sector contracted sharply in February, data showed.

President Moon Jae-in called for “extraordinary” steps to shield the economy against the virus epidemic, as the number of domestic cases spike. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday the government is compiling an extra budget with more than $5.1 billion in spending aid.
Analysts have slashed projections for the pace of the country’s growth and the Bank of Korea said there’s now a chance of contraction in the first quarter.
South Korea is an important bellwether of global tech demand because it’s the biggest producer of the memory chips in everything from computers to smartphones.
“We’re now seeing tremendous short-term disruption from Korea to Thailand to Italy, as companies realize this isn’t only a China issue,” said Nick Vyas from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.
“Looking ahead, weakened demand from China and disrupted supply chains will likely weigh on overseas sales for the next few months. Should the virus spread further and damp demand from other trade partners, exports would see more downside risk,”Justin Jimenez of Bloomberg’s Economist said