From the 19th, All Arrivals Will Be Subject to 'Special Entry Procedures' (Update)

On the 9th, when mutual visa-free entry between Korea and Japan was suspended, passengers arriving on a flight from Japan at Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport underwent special entry procedures such as quarantine and contact information verification. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The government has decided to expand the special entry procedures to all domestic and foreign entrants in response to the global pandemic of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Kim Kang-lip, the 1st Chief Coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, announced at a regular briefing held at the Government Complex Sejong on the 16th, "From 0:00 on the 19th, the scope of the special entry procedures will be expanded to include all domestic and foreign entrants."

If the special entry procedures are expanded to all entrants, the number of subjects is expected to increase to about 13,000. Currently, the procedures are applied to all flight routes from China, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, Iran, and Europe, with 2,130 subjects as of the previous day.

Kim, the 1st Chief Coordinator, explained, "This measure is to strongly block the re-entry of overseas risk factors into the country, considering the numerous confirmed cases detected during recent quarantine processes for entrants and the global speed of COVID-19 transmission." In fact, confirmed cases from quarantine results for entrants were 1 on the 13th, 3 on the 14th, and 2 on the 15th.

Accordingly, all entrants must complete a health status questionnaire and a special quarantine declaration form, which will be distributed in advance on the aircraft, starting from 0:00 on the 19th. Through quarantine at the arrival hall, fever checks will be conducted, quarantine investigations for symptomatic individuals will be carried out, and diagnostic tests will be administered if necessary.

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