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South Korea was certified measles-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014, and maintains high childhood vaccination coverage. Despite this, it recorded 52 confirmed infections in 2025, mostly contracted by citizens who travelled overseas
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South Korea has reported its highest number of measles cases in six years, with 52 confirmed infections so far in 2025, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
Of the 52 recorded infections, 34 were contracted overseas, mostly by travellers returning from Vietnam, while the remaining 18 were domestic transmissions, occurring in homes and healthcare settings through contact with international visitors.
The figure surpasses last year’s total of 49 cases and is the most reported since 2019, when South Korea confirmed 194 cases during multiple cluster outbreaks. While the KDCA insists there is currently no widespread outbreak within the country, the number of cases has steadily ticked up this year mirroring trends in North America and parts of Europe.
“The global increase in measles is likely to result in more imported cases,” Yonhap news agency cited a KDCA official as saying. The official did stress that the risk of a major outbreak in South Korea remains low due to robust national immunisation and disease surveillance systems.
South Korea was certified measles-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014, and maintains high childhood vaccination coverage.
Rising global tide of preventable diseases
The uptick in South Korea comes as the United States grapples with its worst measles situation in decades. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 935 cases nationwide so far this year with the bulk traced to a months-long outbreak in Texas that has spread to New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Canada and Mexico are also facing sizeable outbreaks. Ontario has recorded more than 1,200 cases since October, and the Mexican state of Chihuahua has logged 844 cases. Health officials in all three countries have confirmed that the outbreaks stem from the same measles strain.
Behind the rise in measles cases
Measles is a highly contagious virus that spreads through airborne droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or breathes in close proximity to others.
While a two-dose Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine provides strong protection, global immunisation rates have declined in recent years.
In the US, the majority of recent measles cases have occurred among unvaccinated individuals, often due to misinformation spread online about vaccine safety, distrust of government and health authorities, and a growing political alignment between anti-vaccine views and some conservative groups.
With inputs from agencies