President Moon Jae-in met with merchants at a traditional market in downtown Seoul to ease concerns over the economic impact of the new coronavirus outbreak in the country.

During a visit to Namdaemun Market on Wednesday, Moon held a luncheon meeting with a group of market and merchant representatives and vowed the government's full efforts to tackle the crisis.

A presidential official said through the visit, the president planned to send a message to citizens to go about their daily lives and leave all concerns to the government.

Moon also toured the market, which attracts some four million foreign tourists a year, to comfort merchants facing difficulties from a drastic decline of customers amid the outbreak.

This was Moon's fourth on-site inspection in relation to the coronavirus, following visits to the National Medical Center and state quarantine facilities in the central Chungcheong region.