The United States Government issued a level 3 travel advisory for the Republic of Korea.
The recent outbreak of Coronavirus infected 2337 people in South Korea as of now with 13 deaths and10 serious cases in hospitals.
Among others, Hawaiian Airlines is suspending all flights to South Korea as of March 2nd.
The US State Department is recommending to refrain from all non-essential travel to Korea. Returning travelers may face lengthy quarantine in the U.S.
This is also a major blow for the countries travel and tourism industry. South Korea had been promoting tourism for U.S. travelers increasingly and currently has tourism offices in New York and California.
Korean travelers are enjoying entry to the United States without visa under the ESTA program and the situation should bring inbound travel for Korean tourists to the United States to a virtual stillstand. Hawaii and Guam is heavily relying on this traffic, and adding Chinese travelers staying home, this becomes a major issue for the U.S. Travel and Tourism industry as well.