Korean Businesses in China Reopen Amid Coronavirus Devastation
15 February, 2020
Korean companies in China reopened early this week after closing down due to the new coronavirus outbreak which coincided with the Lunar New Year holiday.
But only essential Korean personnel have returned to China to man offices and factories there. According to Justice Ministry data, 27,050 Koreans left for China from Feb. 1 to 11, a mere fifth of the numbers in the same amount of 2019.
Cosmetics manufacturer Kolmar Korea has a factory in Wuxi near Shanghai, around 700 km from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak and considered at greater risk than Beijing or Guangzhou, which are over 1,000 km away.
On Monday, 27 Kolmar staff there resumed their work even while all restaurants are closed and store shelves were emptied way back when.
"We can't even buy vegetables or meat and are subsisting on canned food and instant noodles we brought from Korea," one staffer said. "We are avoiding taxis or public transport and so are taking turns driving the other person to work."
Workers wait in a line to have their temperature checked at Kolmar Korea’s factory in Wuxi, China on Thursday, in this image from the cosmetics manufacturer.
Korean expats say every day is a struggle to survive. The largest difficulty they face is buying face masks. One 31-year-old staffer at a trading company in Dalian said, "Online and offline stores have all run out of face masks." One individual can buy only up to five face masks so they need to reuse them.
Some expats have already been unable to return to their homes in China due to restrictions on movement. Apartments are avoiding unregistered cars and outsiders from entering and expats returning from abroad fall into this category, they say.
"Some persons have not had the opportunity to unpack their bags given that they returned and are staying at the homes of their coworkers," an expat said.
The coronavirus outbreak has taken about other changes. Expats are leaving thermostats off for fear that the virus could creep in through the ducts and keep their thick coats on at work.
"We used to consume together in the business cafeteria, but we eat by ourselves at our very own desks," another expat said. "We also had two or three meetings a day with our subcontractors, however now that's all done via conference call and we even talk to our colleagues in the same office on messenger."
Korean expats are also afraid of damaging their health with the indegent nutrition and wide fluctuations in daytime and nighttime temperatures. Those that catch a cold or develop stomach problems cannot go to hospital because of the virus.
One expat in Guangzhou said, "I forgot to bring enough medicine when I left Korea."
Many Korean companies in China end up having their Chinese workers being unable to go back to work. The Chinese government imposed a two-week ban on staff returning from out of town.
A staffer at a Korean car parts maker in Suzhou said, "Around 20 Korean staff returned to work after the Lunar New Year, but only 300 out of 1 1,500 Chinese employees attended back. Korean managers are carrying it out of 4 or 5 employees in crisis-management mode."
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