Government Accepts Voluntary Reports of Mask Hoarding Until the 14th... Rewards for Public Interest Reports (Update)

Operation of 'Mask Paparazzi' System Offering Rewards for Reports
Government Announces Fifth Related Measure Since COVID-19 Outbreak

On the 9th, when the 'Mask 5-Day Rotation System' was implemented, citizens were purchasing public masks at a pharmacy in Jongno-gu, Seoul. From this day, at pharmacies, individuals can buy only two public masks per person on the designated day according to the last digit of their birth year. Proxy purchases are also allowed for children under 10 years old and seniors aged 80 and above. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporters Kim Hyunjung and Jang Sehee] The government is operating a voluntary reporting period for hoarding masks until the 14th. It plans to make every effort to legalize the volume by providing rewards to those who report hoarding activities.

On the 9th, Kim Yongbeom, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, held a joint briefing on the full-scale implementation of mask supply stabilization measures and announced this. Officials from related ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the Public Procurement Service, attended the briefing.

At the briefing, the government presented a plan to legalize private sector volumes, which account for about 20% of daily production. This is because the market distribution suddenly decreased to 20% of production, raising concerns about competition for masks in the private sector and concentration of mask procurement by some local governments and companies with negotiation and purchasing power.

To suppress illegal mask distribution, the government will hold a "special voluntary reporting period for hoarding" for five days from the 10th to the 14th of this month. During this period, businesses that report will be ▲ exempted from punishment, ▲ have their identity and anonymity protected, ▲ have the reported volume purchased by the Public Procurement Service at a reasonable price, and ▲ have the report details not provided to the National Tax Service for tax audits or other purposes.

Furthermore, those who report hoarding for public interest purposes will be thoroughly protected and rewarded. This effectively introduces a so-called "Mask Paparazzi" system.

Vice Minister Kim Yongbeom emphasized, "This will open the possibility of legalizing existing hoarded volumes," adding, "After the special voluntary reporting period, we will respond even more strongly based on a zero-tolerance, all-out response principle against detected hoarding."

Meanwhile, this measure is the fifth mask-related policy announced since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the fourth for supply stabilization. Previously, four emergency supply adjustment measures were implemented, including banning hoarding, strengthening import and export procedures, and expanding domestic distribution volumes. On the 5th, in the supply stabilization measures, the government announced a reporting system requiring sellers to report online by noon the next day if they sell more than 3,000 masks outside official sales channels, and an approval system requiring prior approval for sales of more than 10,000 masks.

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