Coronavirus takes toll on Korean firms' overseas businesses

By Kim Hyun-bin

The coronavirus outbreak here has taken a toll on local firms' overseas businesses, as many countries have been imposed an entry ban on Korean nationals, while foreign buyers and investors have been delaying interactions with Korean businesspeople abroad.

In addition, foreign investors and company officials have been reluctant to visit Seoul due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Their actions are not a surprise as Korean companies have also limited business trips to China, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, after the epidemic spun out of control.

The deadly virus has been spreading throughout Korea infecting over 3,500 people as of Sunday, which has forced companies to drastically reduce the number of overseas business trips.

As of Sunday, nearly 80 countries have banned or restricted the entry of travelers from Korea over the recent hike in the number of COVID-19 cases.

Major trading companies have been hit hardest as there has been a drastic reduction in the number of prospective foreign buyers visiting Korea, in addition to companies strengthening regulations for international business trips.

Samsung C&T Corp. has restricted business trips temporarily, with some exceptions and even then the employee needs to get approval from headquarters and the business partner abroad. Face-to-face encounters with clients have also been limited, while most meetings are held through conference calls.

LG International has banned all business trips to highly-infected regions and has refrained from inviting business officials to Korea.

“Even business trips to countries that have not banned Koreans have been cancelled,” said an official from one of the nation's major trading companies. “Normally, there are 20 business trips a month per team, however, from this month we will have zero. Also foreign businesses are politely declining our invitations to visit here.”

Recently, Vietnam has limited the entry of Koreans, making it difficult for international sales divisions to operate.

Samsung operates smartphone and household appliance plants in Vietnam, which could be impacted on by Vietnam's entry restrictions if they are prolonged.

“A new smartphone product line has been completed so there might not be a big problem at this point; but if the restrictions are prolonged they could cause some difficulties for Samsung,” an industry watcher said.

Visits by foreign company officials to Korea have also been decreasing. Google has stopped its employees from traveling to Korea, Japan, Italy and Iran due to the outbreaks in those respective countries. Amazon has also asked its employees to defer all non-essential travel through the end of April

The outbreak has made difficult for local companies to sign deals with foreign buyers or attract foreign investors.

“There have been setbacks to business operations due to COVID-19 as a lot of business meetings have been cancelled or postponed,” a conglomerate official said.

Many employees at large corporations have been confirmed to be infected with the virus leading to the temporary shutdown of headquarters buildings.

Samsung Electronics said a subcontractor who worked at its semiconductor plant in Yongin just south of Seoul, tested positive for the virus, Saturday.

This comes after Samsung closed down a smartphone plant in Gumi for three days last week after it reported the first infection of an employee.

The government reported that there were nearly 400 additional cases of the coronavirus Sunday, bringing the total of those infected to over 3,500.

So far, 17 people have died from the virus which first emerged from China, and the country raised its alert level to “red,” the highest level, Feb. 23.