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| A tourist leaves a pharmacy in the Myeong-dong shopping district after buying a box of masks amid mounting fears over the spread of the deadly coronavirus, Monday. / Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
A 37-year-old office worker who works for a trading company in downtown Seoul frequently visited the Myeong-dong shopping district for lunch with his clients.
But he is now looking elsewhere for his lunch meetings amid mounting fears over the spread of the deadly coronavirus that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
"As the Myeong-dong district is one the most popular tourist attractions especially among Chinese tourists, my colleagues and I have become reluctant to visit the area," he said, Thursday.
Street vendors and owners of shops in Myeong-dong said the district has become quieter than usual following the recent outbreak of the new coronavirus. Pharmacies that sell masks were the only places that were crowded, they said.
Besides Myeong-dong, the public appear to have been avoiding visiting other popular tourist attractions in Seoul such as Namdaemun Market and department stores as the fears over the Wuhan coronavirus are igniting anti-China sentiments, or "China-phobia."
Some restaurants in areas crowded with tourists have even posted signs saying "No Chinese allowed".
A 34-year-old man who runs his own business in western Seoul said he felt fear when he realized a Chinese person was standing next to him on a crowded subway on the way home a few days ago.
"At the time, not only me but also many other passengers looked at the person out of fear, with some even wrinkling their brows," he said. "I know that it is not rational to have an antipathy to all Chinese people, but I could not help myself due to concerns."
A 29-year-old office worker is planning to go on a business trip to the United States in early February to visit a global exhibition, but is "feeling uneasy as many people from China are also expected to visit the event."
The death toll has already reached about 170 in China, with the viral illness having already spread to other parts of the world quickly.
Amid the growing China-phobia, Grand Korea Leisure (GKL), which runs foreigner-only casinos in Korea, has restricted access to Chinese tourist package groups.
Lotte World, which has been also popular among Chinese tourists, saw an 18 percent decrease in the number of visitors during the Lunar New Year holiday that ran from Jan. 24 to Jan. 27, compared to last year.
Boo Sang-il from the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, who is preparing to run in the general election in April on Jeju Island, asked Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae to temporarily suspend Jeju's visa-free program for Chinese visitors amid the virus outbreak.
Hotels and duty-free stores have been suffering a blow from fear of the virus as well.
"An increasing number of guests have canceled their reservations," an official from one of the luxury hotels in Seoul said.
