Government Bans Entry of Foreign Nationals on Japanese Cruise Ships into Korea (Comprehensive)

On the morning of the 19th, the presidential aircraft (Air Force One No. 3), carrying six Koreans and one Japanese spouse who disembarked from the cruise ship 'Diamond Princess' docked at Yokohama Port, Japan, arrived at Gimpo International Airport. / Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The government is pushing to ban the entry of foreigners who boarded the cruise ship 'Diamond Princess,' which is docked at Yokohama Port in Japan. Among the passengers, South Koreans will be placed under self-quarantine after entering the country.

Kang Hyung-sik, Director of Overseas Safety Management Planning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced this at the regular briefing of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters on the 19th. Director Kang explained, "There are cases where passengers from the Japanese cruise ship disembark and enter the country," adding, "In such cases, according to previous precedents, foreigners are first requested to be banned from entering the country."

Accordingly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested the passenger list of the cruise ship. When asked whether the passenger list has been secured, Director Kang added, "We have requested the list of those who boarded the cruise ship through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

The Japanese government has completed specimen collection for all cruise ship passengers and plans to allow those who tested negative to disembark sequentially from the 19th to the 21st. The six South Koreans and one Japanese spouse who arrived this morning on the president's exclusive aircraft will undergo additional quarantine in Korea and then be isolated for 14 days at a temporary living facility set up at the Central Quarantine Support Center of Incheon Airport Quarantine Station.

Meanwhile, the Diamond Princess had a total of 3,711 people on board, including 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members. With U.S. nationals being transferred to hospitals and their home countries, it is reported that about 2,900 remain on board. The number of confirmed cases was confirmed to be 542 as of the previous day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.