Senior South Korean diplomats stationed in China began an annual meeting in Beijing on Thursday, during which they are expected to discuss measures to minimize fallout from the outbreak of MERS in South Korea. 

   The meeting comes as South Korea's tourism industry has been hit hard as many foreign tourists, mostly Chinese, have canceled their trips to South Korea since it reported its first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome on May 20. 

   Speaking to the meeting, the South Korean Ambassador to China, Kim Jang-soo, said, "In the wake of the outbreak of MERS, people-to-people exchanges between Korea and China have been limited."

   "I hope this meeting will offer a venue to exchange views on how to recover people-to-people exchanges between the two nations when the MERS situation is over," Kim said.

   After a four-day hiatus, South Korea reported one new case of MERS on Wednesday, raising the total number of infections to 183. 

   Since May 20, the virus has killed 33 people in South Korea, marking the largest outbreak outside Saudi Arabia. (Yonhap)