Dong-A Ilbo, June 11, 2015
The outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) entered its third week in South Korea, with nine people dead, 122 declared cases of infection and growing concerns about the consequences of the virus on the economy.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye canceled her planned Sunday trip to Washington to oversee efforts to tackle the outbreak. South Korean daily Dong-A Ilbo called the outbreak a “national security priority” on the front page of its Thursday edition, accompanied by a photo of medical staff outside the Seoul Medical Center.
The potential impact on the tourism industry and on the country as a whole led President Park to “urge citizens to refrain from excessively reacting to MERS for the sake of the economy.”
South Korea’s central bank cut its interest rate Thursday to a new record low of 1.50% to support the economy, the BBC reports.
ABOUT THE SOURCE: The Dong-A Ilbo (“East Asia Daily”) is the leading newspaper in Korea, with a daily circulation of more than 1.2 million. It was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Seoul.
