Emergency over 'COVID-19' in Yecheon-gun, Gyeongbuk election... Blame game erupts amid surge in confirmed cases

Some Candidates Send All Campaign Workers Home

Notice on the Status of COVID-19 Cases Posted on the Yecheon County Office Website.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] In Yecheon-gun, Gyeongbuk, new confirmed cases of COVID-19 have appeared for three consecutive days again after about a month of no occurrences, raising growing questions about the infection routes.

In particular, as allegations arise that a certain candidate's campaign workers might have been the transmission channel within the local community, a blame game over their movements between candidate camps is fueling anxiety among local residents.

According to Gyeongbuk Province on the 12th, as of midnight that day, three new confirmed cases were added in Yecheon-gun, bringing the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in Gyeongbuk Province to 1,289.

In Yecheon-gun, confirmed cases surged for three consecutive days: 5 on the 9th (midnight basis), 3 on the 10th, and 3 on the 11th. Compared to the period from February 21, when the first confirmed case was a woman residing in Uiseong-gun who returned from a pilgrimage to Israel, with 1-2 cases occurring every three days until March 6, this is nearly double the number suddenly increased.

The seventh confirmed case, diagnosed on the 9th after about a month, is a woman in her 40s living in Yecheon-eup. Her husband and son became the eighth and ninth confirmed cases the following day.

Regarding the continuous emergence of confirmed cases after the couple's positive diagnosis, suspicions have been spreading mainly within competing candidate camps that the eighth confirmed case was a campaign worker for a specific candidate and that the daily movement routes were minimized.

The Democratic Party Andong-Yecheon Election Countermeasures Committee stated in a press release on the 11th, "The eighth confirmed case is known to have actively participated in election activities supporting Kim Hyeong-dong, the candidate of the United Future Party," and added, "If the movement routes were not thoroughly investigated because the person was a campaign worker, this is a criminal act gambling with the lives and safety of all local residents," demanding a response from Yecheon-gun.

On the other hand, Kim Hyeong-dong, the candidate of the United Future Party, posted on his Facebook, "There are candidates and camps exploiting the serious situation of new COVID-19 cases in Yecheon-gun for election purposes," and rebutted, "The eighth confirmed case has nothing to do with our campaign. The 'say whatever you want' negative campaign is going too far."

Meanwhile, independent candidate Kwon Taek-gi announced the confirmed case of a campaign worker assisting him through a 'statement' on the 10th, and has since sent home all campaign staff who had contact with the confirmed case as well as all campaign workers, conducting a 'solo campaign.'

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