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US President Donald Trump, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar (far left), and Vice President Mike Pence hold a press conference on the coronavirus outbreak at the White House on Feb. 29. (AP/Yonhap News)

Many in the US are expressing positive assessments of the South Korean government’s response measures to the novel coronavirus. While the possibility of the US imposing entry restrictions on South Koreans and other additional measures cannot be ruled out as the situation unfolds, the attitudes are seen as one factor in the US’ circumspect approach to restricting South Korea travel.

During an interview with Fox News on Mar. 1, US Vice President Mike Pence observed that President Donald Trump had banned entry to the US for people coming from Iran, following a similar ban on people from China. But for South Korea and Italy, unlike China and Iran, Trump only asked for a Level 4 travel advisory on areas that were particularly affected by COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, including the city of Daegu, effectively advising Americans not to visit those places. Trump’s moderation was apparently grounded in a positive assessment of the South Korean government’s proactive and transparent response to the outbreak.

During an interview with Fox News on Sunday, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, after suggesting that the government had looked into banning entry to the US from South Korea and Italy, said, “The point is with Italy and South Korea we have highly developed public health and healthcare systems. We have transparent leadership and very aggressive action that's been on it from day one.” Azar did leave open the possibility of additional measures, noting that “everything will always be on the table.”

The American media has been grilling the US government by comparing its actions with South Korea’s swift response. The Fox News interviewer told Pence that South Korea was running “drive-through” screening clinics, where people could be tested in their car, and that China was able to test people at their homes. While interviewing Pence, CNN anchor Jake Tapper noted that South Korea had been able to test more than 90,000 citizens for the coronavirus, while the US had only tested about 500 people. Tapper then asked why the US was falling behind other countries on this rubric.

“The US is impressed by how quickly South Korea has been running tests and preemptively checking airplane passengers for fever. They’re calling it the ‘Korea model,’” said a diplomatic source in Washington.

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

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