Gwangju City Issues 2-Week Administrative Order Prohibiting Gatherings at Entertainment Venues (Update)

Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju / Photo by Gwangju City

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kang Juhee] Gwangju City has issued an administrative order banning gatherings at entertainment facilities to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

On the 12th, Mayor Lee Yong-seop held a press conference at the Gwangju City Hall briefing room and announced that from 6 p.m. on the same day until 6 a.m. on the 26th, an administrative order banning gatherings will be enforced at all entertainment pubs, emotional pubs, and colatecs in Gwangju.

The mayor explained, "As 10 metropolitan governments, including Seoul and Gyeonggi, have issued administrative orders banning gatherings, this unavoidable measure is to block the balloon effect where club users might flock to Gwangju to avoid those areas and to prevent the situation where the little daily life we have regained stops again."

The gathering ban prohibits people from assembling at the designated facilities, effectively equivalent to a business suspension. The targets include 2 emotional pubs, 16 clubs, 673 entertainment pubs, and 10 colatecs, totaling 701 locations.

Violating the administrative order will result in prosecution and a fine of up to 3 million KRW. If a confirmed case occurs due to violation, the violator will be responsible for treatment costs and may be subject to claims for quarantine and other expenses.

Jeonnam Province also plans to issue an administrative order banning gatherings at four clubs in the province similar to the Itaewon clubs (2 in Mokpo, 1 in Yeosu, and 1 in Suncheon).

However, the province stated that it will further review whether to impose a gathering ban on all entertainment facilities, which number over 1,600 in the province.

Jeonnam Province said, "There are various opinions about issuing a gathering ban on all entertainment facilities when no confirmed cases have occurred in the region due to the Itaewon clubs," and added, "We will carefully monitor the situation and decide later."

In Gwangju, no additional confirmed cases have been reported since the 30th confirmed patient was discharged on the 9th. From the night of April 29 to the early morning of May 8, 130 visitors to the Itaewon clubs and the Black sleeping room in Nonhyeon-dong were identified, but all tested negative in diagnostic tests.

In Jeonnam, a total of 16 cumulative confirmed cases have occurred so far, and no additional confirmed cases have been reported since the overseas imported case on the 2nd of this month. Six residents of the province who directly visited the Itaewon clubs have been identified, all of whom tested negative.

Among residents of the province who did not visit clubs but traveled to Itaewon and Hongdae, a total of 151 people have been identified; among them, 61 tested negative, and 90 are undergoing diagnostic testing.

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