Seoul City Files Complaint Against 'Sarang Church' for Quarantine Rule Violations... Introduces 'Citizen Reporting System' for Illegal Gatherings

Confirmed cases hiding contacts and visited places reported to police
Dedicated TF to conduct arrest investigations for cluster infections at multi-level marketing and door-to-door sales venues

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government has decided to report confirmed COVID-19 cases who provided false statements during epidemiological investigations to the police for the safety of its citizens. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, it will also operate a 'Citizen Reporting System' for illegal small-scale gatherings such as selling goods.

On the 24th, Seoul held a briefing and announced, "We have issued a ban on gatherings at Sarang Church in Songpa-gu, where a cluster infection occurred resulting in a total of 17 confirmed cases so far, and will file a complaint against the church." More than three confirmed cases, including those who visited the church while symptomatic and those who participated in the choir without wearing masks, are expected to be subject to complaints.

The city also reported the Songpa case number 60, who concealed their visit history to Gwangju Metropolitan City during the epidemiological investigation, to the police. Additionally, Gangnam case number 91, who failed to properly disclose contacts and caused contacts to visit Jeju Island, will also be reported.

To prevent further spread of COVID-19, a citizen reporting group composed of local community leaders familiar with their neighborhoods, the Seoul branch of the Korea Senior Citizens Association, safety and quarantine-related citizen monitoring teams, and general citizens will be formed to receive reports on illegal small-scale gatherings or facilities violating quarantine rules.

Reports can be submitted through Seoul City’s 120 call center and response office. If the investigation by the Civil Affairs Judicial Police Team confirms clear violations of the law, administrative and judicial measures will be taken, and the reporter will receive a reward of 30,000 KRW per case. The reward is limited to a maximum of 10 cases per person.

Park Yumi, Director of the Seoul City Citizen Health Bureau, emphasized, "Illegal small-scale gatherings refer to meetings where goods are sold without reporting." She added, "Eradicating illegal small-scale gatherings, which pose a high risk of COVID-19 spread and make infection route tracking difficult, is most importantly dependent on active citizen reporting."

Alongside this, Seoul will establish and operate a dedicated 'COVID-19 Investigation Task Force (TF)' within the Civil Affairs Judicial Police Team starting today to focus on investigating multi-level marketing, door-to-door sales, and health-related sectors. Twelve specialized investigators in two teams will conduct investigations and crackdowns on COVID-19-related crimes based on citizen reports and information sharing with city enforcement departments.

In particular, if multi-level marketing or door-to-door sales companies become major sources of COVID-19 cluster infections due to unreported or unregistered business activities, Seoul will respond strongly with detention investigations as a principle. The city is currently conducting preliminary investigations on two unregistered multi-level marketing companies based on citizen reports and plans to punish participants if criminal charges are confirmed.

More intensive investigations will also be conducted on crimes involving the manufacture, distribution, and sale of substandard quarantine supplies and illegal food and pharmaceuticals, which directly affect citizens' health.

Considering that offices where small-scale gatherings have taken place are mainly located in large buildings, quarantine management will be strengthened from individual workplaces to the entire large building. Accordingly, about 1,000 buildings in Seoul with a total floor area exceeding 30,000 square meters will require building managers to appoint and operate quarantine managers. Through integrated management of the entire building, including operating thermal imaging cameras at main entrances, checking mask-wearing, and providing hand sanitizers, infections will be proactively blocked.

Director Park urged, "Promotional centers and experience centers related to door-to-door sales tend to have many visitors in enclosed environments with prolonged close contact, making infection transmission easy. Elderly people are especially advised to refrain from attending door-to-door sales events."

Meanwhile, as of midnight today, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Seoul was 1,547. Currently, 168 people are in isolation, and 1,368 have been discharged after being declared fully recovered.

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