NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

The ruling Democratic Party and the government have agreed to expand emergency business funds and low-interest loans by two trillion won each to help small businesses and entrepreneurs who have sustained losses because of the coronavirus outbreak. A supplementary budget amounting to 6.2 trillion won will be set to help small businesses overcome the crisis.
Minister of Finance and Economy Hong Nam-ki has vowed to process the supplementary budget bill as soon as possible by holding a cabinet meeting on March 4 and submitting the bill to the National Assembly by March 5. He added that the government officials stayed up all night last week to devise the budget so that the bill can be passed at the extraordinary parliamentary session, which ends on March 17.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said this morning that 93 countries and regions are either denying entry to passengers from South Korea or imposing stronger quarantine measures against them. So far, 36 countries and regions are banning passengers arriving from Korea from entering altogether or for a certain period of time. Vietnam has suspended 15-day visa-free stays for Koreans, while Turkey is denying entry to all foreign nationals who have visited Korea and have no entry permits.