Boxes of protective masks are displayed for sale outside a supermarket in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday. Credit: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg/Getty Images

South Korea will ban the hoarding of surgical masks and hand sanitizers from Wednesday -- with those found guilty sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison or fined up to $42,000.

The emergency measure aims to prevent manufacturers and vendors from massively profiting from the coronavirus outbreak, Seoul's Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a press release. The measure will stay in effect until the end of April.

The ministry defines hoarding as storing more than 1.5 times the amount of a monthly average sale of two items for more than five days.

“The government will never accept market disrupting action that takes the safety of the citizens hostage,” the Ministry of Economy and Finance said, adding: “We will take the strongest measure.”