20s in Busan First Arrested for 6 Unauthorized Quarantine Violations and Concealing Movement

Use of Multi-Use Facilities Such as Seoul Pubs During Quarantine Period

On the 8th, Seoul citizens are waiting to get tested in front of the screening clinic at Seoul Medical Center in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, as the city began free proactive COVID-19 testing for the general public to prevent community cluster infections caused by asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers.
/Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suwan] A man in his 20s who repeatedly violated quarantine orders by leaving his residence during self-isolation and lied about his movements after being reported has been arrested.

On the 8th, the Haeundae Police Station in Busan announced that they had arrested Mr. A on charges of violating the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act.

According to the police, Mr. A was ordered to self-isolate for two weeks until the 2nd of last month after coming into contact with a confirmed COVID-19 patient from Daegu at a club in Seomyeon, Busan, in mid-April.

However, during an on-site inspection by health authorities, it was confirmed that Mr. A left his residence during the quarantine period and visited a pub in Seoul and other places.

Mr. A initially ignored police summons but was eventually arrested.

During the investigation, Mr. A claimed, "Except for the reported unauthorized departure, I did not violate self-isolation," but this was proven to be false.

Police checked Mr. A's mobile phone location data and confirmed that he visited restaurants, coffee shops, convenience stores, and other places in Seoul and Busan during the quarantine period.

In particular, Mr. A was found to have left his residence without permission five times: once before the reported incident, once during the reported incident, and four times after the report.

The police judged the crime to be serious due to Mr. A hiding his movements, lying, using multi-use facilities during quarantine, and repeatedly leaving his residence, and applied for an arrest warrant, which was recently granted.

The police plan to conclude the investigation soon and send Mr. A to the prosecution.

Previously in Busan, a man in his 30s was arrested last month for leaving his residence during self-isolation and stealing someone else's credit card. However, this is the first case of arrest solely for unauthorized departure during self-isolation.

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