SEOUL -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye delayed her planned visit to the United States amid the ongoing spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the presidential office said on Wednesday.
Senior presidential press secretary Kim Sung-woo told a press briefing that President Park has decided to postpone next week's trip to the United States to contain the MERS spread as early as possible for people's safety.
Park was scheduled to make a five-day travel to the United States on Sunday and hold a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama on June 16.
The delay came amid the unabated MERS crisis in the country, where the number of confirmed infections of the corona virus surged to 108, just three weeks after the first case was identified on May 20.
The two countries agreed to reschedule Park's trip to Washington at an earliest possible date.
According to a Realmeter survey of 700 adults on Monday and Tuesday, more than half of the respondents said that President Park should put off her U.S. travel.
