President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday urged the public to remain calm over the ongoing MERS outbreak in Korea, apparently addressing the public’s slipping confidence in the administration’s ability to contain the disease that has left six dead and thousands quarantined.
Park also expressed confidence at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting that Korea’s medical expertise would be able to contain the disease’s spread. Park added that continued public fear over the disease would likely hurt consumer spending and the tourism industry.
“MERS is a controllable virus that we can contain. I understand that the public is alarmed at the disease’s spread. But I urge citizens to refrain from excessively reacting to MERS for the sake of the economy,” Park said.
“I also would like to urge the Finance Ministry to ensure that the MERS outbreak does not hurt our tourism industry,” the president added.
Park has been under strong public criticism for failing to contain the MERS virus after the first MERS patient was confirmed late last month. She has also been denounced for withholding key information from the public, such as the names of the hospitals where MERS patients have visited.
The government finally released the names of the hospitals last Sunday, after resisting public pressure to do so for two weeks.
Park’s approval rating slipped this week by 4.4 percent to 40.3 percent according to a public survey by Realmeter announced on Monday. The poll asked 2,500 adults across Korea from June 1 to 5, and had a margin of error plus or minus 2 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.
“We have a history of overcoming national crises. I am confident that we will do the same now,” the president said.
“But the government needs your help. We are doing our best, but we are forced to rely on self-reports from citizens. You must report any suspected cases of MERS to officials,” Park added.
By Jeong Hunny ()
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
