But Hyundai, along with other automakers, is also suffering from parts shortages as they import many auto parts from China. The automaker said it resumed production from Monday. Hyundai Motor, the largest automaker in the country, closed its second factory in the southeastern city of Ulsan, which mainly produces sport-utility vehicles, on Friday after an employee was confirmed to have the virus. The company resumed production on Sunday evening after authorities quarantined the production line. Samsung also had to shut down its smartphone factory in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, on Saturday, after an employee there was confirmed to have been infected by the virus. The company also adopted an online voting system for the meeting to help shareholders exercise their rights without visiting the meeting in person. Samsung Electronics, South Korea's biggest conglomerate by market capitalization, moved the venue for its general shareholders' meeting to a convention center in Suwon from its Seoul office to minimize risks to its business. K-pop band Super Junior, meanwhile, announced on Friday that it is postponing indefinitely two concerts in Japan originally scheduled for late March due to the Japanese government's travel restrictions.Įven South Korea's economic giants are not immune to the impacts of the coronavirus, which had infected nearly 6,300 people in South Korea, the most outside of China, and killed 42 as of Friday. South Korean soldiers in protective gear sanitize a shopping street in Seoul on March 4. Sales from Japanese routes accounted for 10% of its passenger business revenue in the third quarter. Japan still matters to us, even though its share decreased last year due to the political tensions between the two countries," said a spokesman for the airline. 2 full-service carrier, said it is considering cutting flights to Japan in response. Seoul on Friday said it will consider "reciprocal" measure in response.Īsiana Airlines, South Korea's No. Tokyo announced on Thursday it would ban foreign visitors from the hardest-hit areas of South Korea and Iran. On Monday, Eastar Holdings sold its 51.17% stake in the airline to Jeju Air, South Korea's largest budget carrier, for 54.5 billion won ($45.8 million), far lower than the expected price.Ī spat over travel bans between the Japanese and South Korean governments has only darkened the outlook for airlines and other businesses. We tried some measures, such the government's emergency fund and financial institutions' aid, but they were not enough to resolve our problems," Choi said.Įastar was already on rocky ground, with analysts predicting the company had fallen to a loss in 2019 after seeing profit plunge 88% the year before. "Corona-19 has pushed our company into its worst crisis. Sathya Narayanan, Kanupriya Kapoor, Kavya B., Lakshmi Siddappa, Lisa Shumaker, Mrinalika Roy, Nallur Sethuraman, Natalie Vaughan, Nikhil Subba, Olga Beskrovnova, Padraic Cassidy, Rohith Nair, Roshan Abraham, Sabahatjahan Contractor, Sanjana Vijay Kumar, Seerat Gupta, Shaina Ahluwalia, Shashank Nayar, Shreyasee Raj, Nivedha S.Last week, Choi Jong-koo, CEO of budget airline Eastar Jet, sent a letter to employees explaining why the company was only able to pay them 40% of their wages. Data sources Local state agencies, local media, Oxford Coronavirus Government Response Tracker, Our World in Data, The World Bank, Reuters researchĭesign and development Gurman Bhatia, Prasanta Kumar Dutta, Chris Canipe and Jon McClureĭata collection and research Abhishek Manikandan, Aditya Munjuluru, Ahmed Farhatha, Amal Maqbool, Aniruddha Chakrabarty, Anna Banacka, Anna Pruchnicka, Anurag Maan, Anuron Kumar Mitra, Arpit Nayak, Arundhati Sarkar, Cate Cadell, Chaithra J, Chinmay Rautmare, Christine Chan, Daniela Desantis, Diana Mandia Alvarez, Elizaveta Gladun, Emily Isaacman, Enrico Sciacovelli, Gautami Khandke, Gayle Issa, Hardik Vyas, Harshith Aranya, Javier Lopez, Joao Manuel Vicente Mauricio, Juliette Portala, K.