South Korea's top economic policymaker said the spread of the new coronavirus sparking public concern around the world could negatively affect the country's trade and the domestic tourism industry.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with officials on Tuesday, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said although it's too early to make predictions, Seoul will have to consider supplementary measures as the health scare could have an impact on domestic growth, albeit a limited one.

Referring to the 2003 SARS outbreak and the 2015 MERS outbreak, both of which negatively affected growth to a certain extent, Hong said Seoul will continue to discuss response measures to minimize the virus's impact.

The minister said there haven't been signs of the virus having a direct effect on the domestic economy, vowing to continue thoroughly monitoring the situation.