HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government on Tuesday issued a red Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) on South Korea in light of an outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) there.

Speaking to reporters ahead of an Executive Council meeting this morning, acting Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam said that Hong Kong has close links with South Korea which is a popular destination for package and study tours.

Issuing the OTA can give the tourism industry a clearer direction to do the follow-up work, said Lam, who also called on the public to avoid unnecessary travel to South Korea.

Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong Executive Director Joseph Tung Yiu-chung Tuesday announced the cancellation of all package tours to South Korea before June 30, excluding cruise tours.

Those who have signed up for South Korea tours before June 1 could have refund of tour fee and passenger departure tax from travel agencies, said Tung, who agreed that the red OTA can facilitate insurance companies' work on the issue.

Since South Korea is a popular destination for tourists, Tung expected that around 10,000 to 12,000 tourists have been affected since the outbreak of MERS.

Under the three-color OTA system, black is the highest alert, red the middle and amber the lowest.

South Korea's health ministry said earlier Tuesday that with eight new infections added, the total number of MERS cases in the country has risen to 95.