Yoo Eun-hye Holds Emergency Meeting with Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Education Chiefs... School Attendance Delayed for 838 Schools on the 28th

Concerns Over Infection from Coupang Logistics Center

Adjustment of School Attendance Days for 251 Schools in Bucheon Area
Possibility of Spread to Seoul and Incheon

Ministry of Education Requests Avoidance of Using Multi-Use Facilities

Yoo Eun-hye, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, is speaking at the Social Relations Ministers' Meeting held on the 11th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] As multiple confirmed cases of COVID-19 have emerged at the Coupang logistics center in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, a state of emergency has been declared for kindergarten and elementary, middle, and high schools in the Seoul metropolitan area.

According to the Ministry of Education, as of 10 a.m. on the 28th, 838 kindergartens and elementary, middle, and high schools have adjusted their school attendance days.

The Seoul metropolitan area had the highest number of schools unable to attend classes due to the impact of the Coupang logistics center. There were 117 schools in Seoul, 243 in Incheon, 251 in Bucheon, Gyeonggi, and 5 schools in Guri and Goyang.

Following were 182 schools in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, 4 in Sangju, 18 in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, 10 in Asan, and 1 in Suseong, Daegu. The five schools in Daegu and two schools in Jinju that were unable to attend classes the previous day returned to normal attendance on this day. All 64 students, faculty, and parents who had contact with confirmed students in Daegu Oseong tested negative, and 149 students and faculty who had contact with confirmed cases in Gumi, Sangju, and Jinju also tested negative. At Sangil Media High School in Seoul, all 23 contacts of a confirmed student also tested negative.

The attendance rate on the 27th, when attendance for second-year high school students and below began, was 90.4%. Among the approximately 257,000 students who did not attend school, the most common reason for middle and high school students was self-diagnosis before attending school, while kindergartens and elementary schools most frequently applied for experiential learning. When the infectious disease crisis alert level is at serious or caution stages, experiential learning including home study is recognized as attendance if approved by the school principal according to the standards of the metropolitan and provincial offices of education.

Regarding the cluster infection originating from the logistics center, Yoo Eun-hye, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, is holding an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures with the superintendents of education in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi.

Earlier, Minister Yoo appeared on MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" and said, "We are taking this very seriously. More than 4,000 tests related to employees and contacts are being conducted," adding, "In Bucheon, it is inevitably necessary to have time to adjust according to the epidemiological investigation results."

The Ministry of Education stated, "We are discussing whether there are any parts that can be responded to proactively, but nothing has been finalized yet," and urged, "Students should refrain from using multi-use facilities with a high risk of infection such as karaoke rooms and PC rooms."

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