Gwangju City Issues Administrative Order to Prohibit Gathering and Close Entertainment Venues Until the 25th

Mayor Lee Yong-seop: "Inevitable Measures Due to Potential Third Wave of Regional Infection"

On the afternoon of the 16th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, held a press conference on COVID-19 response at the city hall briefing room and explained the current status of confirmed cases. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City has issued administrative orders to prohibit gatherings and close facilities for 682 entertainment establishments.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop of Gwangju stated at a COVID-19 emergency briefing at 6 p.m. that “The spread of cluster infections centered around entertainment establishments in the Sangmu district of Gwangju is becoming serious,” and “Based on Articles 47 and 49 of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act, administrative orders to prohibit gatherings and close facilities will be enforced on entertainment establishments designated by the government as high-risk facilities until the 25th.”

Mayor Lee expressed concern, saying, “Seven confirmed cases occurred between the 12th and 15th at the entertainment establishment ‘Nurungji Norae Hall,’ and during the investigation of confirmed patients’ movements, a total of 18 entertainment establishments were identified as visited. This means that a large number of people have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus, creating a very dangerous situation.”

He continued, “Additionally, two visitors (Gwangju case numbers 229 and 230) to the entertainment establishment ‘Sulmasineun Ora Norae Hall’ have been newly confirmed positive,” and “Since reports, registrations, and COVID-19 testing of visitors to the 18 identified entertainment establishments are ongoing, the number of confirmed cases is very likely to increase. If responses are lax, there is a risk of a third large-scale regional infection wave, so this measure was unavoidably taken for the safety of citizens. We ask entertainment establishments to actively cooperate.”

High-risk facilities are not allowed to employ entertainment hosts (commonly called doumi), but in reality, they operate in forms similar to entertainment establishments. Accordingly, from today, the city will conduct joint crackdowns with the police on karaoke bars, hunting pubs, emotional pubs, colatecs, and karaoke rooms.

These facilities are subject to administrative orders restricting gatherings, which mandate the installation and operation of electronic entry logs, mask-wearing, and prohibition of close indoor contact, among other quarantine rules.

Mayor Lee emphasized, “Any business found engaging in illegal activities during joint crackdowns will be immediately closed and reported for violations of the Infectious Disease Control Act under a zero-tolerance policy,” and “If illegal activities are found in multiple businesses, additional administrative orders to prohibit gatherings and close all facilities will be issued.”

He added, “We also ask citizens to refrain from visiting high-risk facilities as much as possible and to immediately report to the Gwangju COVID-19 call center or the mobile app ‘Safe Report’ if these facilities fail to comply with quarantine rules.”

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