A 55-year-old man who had been treated for coronavirus under quarantine at the National Medical Center was released on Wednesday afternoon after making a full recovery.

He was the second confirmed case of the disease in Korea and was hospitalized about two weeks ago.

"All his symptoms disappeared on Sunday and no traces of the virus were detected in two separate tests conducted 24 hours apart," a hospital spokesman said.

The patient had a high fever and pneumonia but started to recover after being administered the antiviral HIV drug Kaletra. But his doctor said, "It's too early to say whether antiviral medication played a decisive role in his recovery."