President Moon Jae-in warned Wednesday that the global economic crisis could be drawn out and stressed South Korea should explore bold preemptive measures without being restricted to precedents.

He was speaking at a rare group meeting with the heads of the country's major business-related associations and umbrella labor unions.

COVID-19 is bringing about a "combined crisis" in the real economy and finance, Moon pointed out.

"Now that it's a problem that the whole world is undergoing together, chances are that the economic crisis will be prolonged," he added. "All industrial sectors are in a state of crisis, not just several ones."

In addition to the allocation of the 11.7 trillion-won ($9.53 billion) supplementary budget, the government will take aggressive and preemptive steps, he said.

While the number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases in South Korea has been on the decline for the past few days, feeling relieved would be premature amid reports of sporadic group infections in Seoul and nearby metropolitan areas, the president said.

Attendees at the Cheong Wa Dae session included Park Yong-maan, head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Sohn Kyung-shik, head of the Korea Employers Federation; and Kim Young-ju, chief of the Korea International Trade Association. Also in attendance were Kim Dong-myeong, head of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and Kim Myeong-hwan, who leads the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.

Cheong Wa Dae said the meeting was organized to share views on the economic ramifications of the disease and discuss ways to ride out the crisis.

South Korea confirmed 93 more cases on Tuesday, with 139 patients declared fully cured during the day, according to health authorities here.