MERS Curse
The spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has brought the Korean Wave to a standstill. Cultural events have been called off, and medical tourism has virtually stopped. The Sichuan Provincial Government of China said that the MERS situation in Korea does not appear to be improving, issuing a travel warning on June 18. It is the first time for China to officially recommend refraining from traveling to Korea after the outbreak of the disease.
An increasing number of cultural exchange events are being canceled. Foreign governments seem to be uncomfortable with Koreans who enter their country, and the Korean tourism industry has difficulty in attracting tourists from abroad.
According to relevant government agencies on June 18, this year's Korea-Japan Friendship Festival scheduled to be held at the Tokyo Dome City from June 27 to 28 has been postponed at last. The event organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization was designed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries this year. Previously, organizers set a goal to attract 50,000 Japanese people for two days.
On top of that, events related to Korean movies were all canceled during the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival between June 13 and 21. The upcoming “K-Culture Festival in Chengdu 2015” to be held on June 20 to 22 has also been delayed.
The number of foreign tourists resulting from the Korean wave has greatly decreased as well. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, 120,000 foreign tourists, including those from China, canceled their reservations as of June 16, after MERS started last month. In addition, Korea saw a drastic reduction in advance booking to visit the country during the peak summer holiday season.
In particular, medical tourism took a direct hit from the MERS situation. Due to the nation's failure to properly respond to the contagious disease, the Korean medical system has been heavily criticized. As a result, the number of medical tourists to get cosmetic or other kinds of surgery drastically decreased. An associate at HanaTour remarked, “There are no new tour reservations for July or August.”
So far, the Korean wave has brought about significant economic benefits, going beyond the expansion of the Korean culture. Any serious blow to Hallyu is bound to hurt the economy. According to the Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange, the total export of cultural content, consumer goods, and tourism generated by the Korean wave amounted to US$6.164 billion in 2014, a year-on-year increase of 8.4 percent. In particular, Hallyu created significant added value of 4.69 trillion won (US$4.23 billion) last year, up 4.5 percent from 2013.