JLPGA Taeguk Ladies "Departure Faction vs Watchful Faction"... "COVID-19 Japan Entry Ban?"

An Seonju and Lee Minyoung, Bae Seonwoo Early Departure "Rest and Training", Lee Bomi, Kim Haneul, and Yoon Chaeyoung "Stay Domestic"

Ahn Sun-joo (photo), Lee Min-young, Bae Sun-woo, and others left for Japan early to avoid the entry ban on Koreans.

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] This is the aftermath of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

It began as the Japanese government enforced the 'Entry Restrictions from Korea' starting on the 9th. On the 5th, the Japanese government announced COVID-19 prevention measures at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which included invalidating visas issued by the Korean embassy, suspending visa-free entry for Koreans, and imposing a two-week quarantine for entrants from Korea. Naturally, players competing in the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association (JLPGA) Tour were directly impacted.

There are two main ways to respond to COVID-19. First, some players chose to travel early to Japan to avoid the government's entry restrictions. This group includes Ahn Sun-joo (33), who has 28 career wins on the JLPGA Tour, '5-win champion' Lee Min-young (28, Hanwha Q CELLS), last year's 5th place money winner Bae Seon-woo (26), Lee Na-ri (32), and Bae Hee-kyung (28). These 'early departure group' players boarded flights to Japan before the entry restrictions took effect and arrived on the island nation.

I Bomi (photo), Kim Haneul, and Yoon Chaeyoung are among the 'wait-and-see group' observing the COVID-19 situation in Japan from within Korea.

They are balancing training and rest while gauging the local atmosphere. Conversely, there is the 'wait-and-see group' who remain in Korea to monitor the situation. This includes Lee Bo-mi (32), who won three consecutive titles in 2015 and 2016, '6-win champion' Kim Ha-neul (32, HiteJinro), and Yoon Chae-young (33). A practical reason is that "once you go to Japan early, returning to Korea is not easy." They also assess that "it is difficult to predict when the impact of COVID-19 will subside."

The JLPGA Tour canceled the season-opening Daikin Orchid Ladies tournament (total prize money 120 million yen), which was scheduled to be held over four days from the 5th at Ryukyu Golf Club in Okinawa Prefecture. This was due to the Japanese government's policy to suspend, postpone, or scale down large-scale sports and cultural events for about two weeks. The JLPGA announced, "We prioritized the safety of players and galleries" and "decided to cooperate fully with the government's national infection safety measures."

Subsequently, the second event, the Yokohama Tire Golf Tournament (total prize money 80 million yen), scheduled for the 13th at Tosa Golf Club in Kochi Prefecture, was also canceled following government guidelines. It remains uncertain whether the third event of the season, the T-Point XENE0S Golf Tournament (total prize money 100 million yen), starting on the 20th at Kagoshima Golf Club in Kagoshima Prefecture, will be held as planned. The JLPGA stated, "We are well aware of the situation of Korean players," but added, "There is no clear solution."

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