Government to Strengthen 'Symptom Checks' for Passengers Boarding US-bound Flights Before Departure... Summons Vietnamese Ambassador for Protest

Senior Official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "Considering Strengthening Health and Fever Checks... Positive Evaluation from the U.S. Side"
All 286 Koreans Stranded by Vietnam Government's Sudden Measures to Return Home Today

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Despite Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha's request to refrain from excessive measures, the number of countries restricting entry of foreigners who are Korean or have passed through Korea is rapidly increasing. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies are making every effort to prevent the worst-case scenario caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), but countries around the world are locking their doors against Korea. Measures such as entry bans, strengthened quarantine procedures, travel alert upgrades, and suspension of flight routes are being implemented one after another, making it insufficient to reverse this trend.

Accordingly, the government is considering strengthening COVID-19 symptom checks for passengers boarding flights to the United States from Daegu, where the travel alert has been raised to the highest level of travel ban. This is an effort to prevent the expansion of travel ban measures in advance.

On the 1st, a senior official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters in an unofficial briefing, "We are considering a more systematic approach to checking the health status and fever of passengers on trans-Pacific routes." Since the 28th, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have been conducting fever checks and health status confirmations for passengers bound for the United States, but this is interpreted as an intention to further strengthen these measures.

The official added, "We are reviewing strengthening measures, thinking that it might have the effect of preventing and improving travel restrictions to the U.S. or other regions that we are concerned about."

During negotiations to prevent the U.S. from imposing entry restrictions on arrivals from Korea, the government conveyed these efforts by airlines, and it is known that the U.S. responded positively. The senior official explained, "It is an unavoidable situation to manage passengers who may pose an infection risk from abroad, but since the departure point is conducting tests, it was highly appreciated," adding, "Some U.S. officials evaluated this as the Korea model."

Regarding U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's statement on the 29th (local time) that President Donald Trump instructed the State Department to cooperate with Korea and Italy to coordinate medical examinations for individuals coming to the U.S. from those countries, the senior official said, "It is in the same context," and added, "For example, although U.S. airlines are not currently conducting such checks, the government is discussing measures to have all airlines do so or to further strengthen the system."

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese government, which bans entry of foreigners entering or transiting through Daegu and Gyeongbuk, is refusing entry to passenger flights from Korea at major airports. The day before, a Korean passenger flight was notified by the Vietnamese government to land at an unfamiliar airport instead of Hanoi Airport and returned to Incheon International Airport during the flight. Ho Chi Minh Airport also refuses landing of Korean passenger flights and directs them to land at another airport four hours away by car.

In response, the Director-General of the ASEAN Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Vietnamese Ambassador to Korea at 4 p.m. that day to protest the inconvenience caused by the sudden airport changes and requested measures to prevent recurrence. A senior official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "286 people stranded in Vietnam were repatriated by one Korean Air and one Asiana Airlines passenger flight without passengers," adding, "Currently, there is no one waiting at the airport."

As of 10 a.m. that day, the number of countries that have banned entry or strengthened entry procedures from Korea reached 79. This is more than six times the number since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began announcing entry restrictions on the 23rd. It exceeds one-third of the United Nations (UN) member states (193 countries).

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