As of February 12th, 2020, 28 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Korea, with the first case observed in a traveler residing in Wuhan, China. The SARS-CoV-2 was isolated from a Korean patient who had self-administered antipyretics for initial symptoms such as chills and fever. The patient had experienced intermittent coughing with sputum 3 days after the administration of antipyretics. The SARS-CoV-2 could replicate in other cells (Vero E6 and Caco-II cells), in addition to Vero cells (data not shown). The first SARS-CoV-2 was successfully isolated by inoculating human airway epithelial cells with bronchoalveolar-lavage fluid samples from a patient with pneumonia [16]. Since human airway epithelial cells (because of their resemblance to pseudostratified mucociliary epithelium) require 4–6 weeks to differentiate in vivo, isolation of SARS-CoV-2 using Vero cells or Caco-II cells is more convenient. Further studies are needed to select more sensitive cell lines suitable for virus isolation from low viral load samples.