Jeonbuk Province Issues Administrative Order Mandating Indoor Mask Wearing

Recommendations to Prohibit Small Gatherings in Religious Facilities and Refrain from Visiting the Seoul Metropolitan Area

O Taek-rim, Director of Welfare Bureau of Jeonbuk Province, is briefing on the administrative order for mask-wearing for all residents. Photo by Jeonbuk Province

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hong Jaehee] As COVID-19 rapidly spreads mainly in the metropolitan area recently, Jeonbuk Province has issued an administrative order mandating indoor mask-wearing.

On the 19th, Jeonbuk Province announced that starting from 2 p.m., an administrative order mandating indoor mask-wearing will be enforced for all residents and visitors throughout the province.

Since the Liberation Day holiday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the province totaled 13, with 1 case on the 16th, 7 cases on the 17th, and 5 cases on the 18th.

Additionally, on the 15th, difficulties in early screening of participants in the Liberation Day rally have led to an expected increase in contacts related to confirmed cases and an increase in follow-up testing.

Accordingly, under Article 49 of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act, the province has issued an administrative order mandating all residents to wear masks indoors.

With this administrative order, residents and visitors in the province must wear masks indoors (except in unavoidable cases such as daily life or food consumption) until a separate lifting order is issued.

Violations will result in a fine of 100,000 KRW according to the law, and if damage such as infection spread occurs due to not wearing a mask, quarantine costs will be claimed.

To prevent confusion, a two-month guidance period will be provided before applying penalty provisions for fines.

Although social distancing is currently at level 1, the province plans to implement strong quarantine measures equivalent to level 2 and strengthen compliance checks on religious gatherings and small meetings.

If violations of quarantine rules continue and are detected, the province will consider stronger measures such as future assembly bans.

Furthermore, residents are advised to refrain from traveling to other regions such as the metropolitan area and to avoid or postpone visits within the province.

Governor Song Ha-jin stated, “To continue protecting the clean Jeonbuk we have maintained so far, it is most important that residents’ active participation and the efforts of quarantine authorities harmonize,” and urged active cooperation, saying, “Mandating mask-wearing and applying the mandate to visitors to Jeonbuk Province is unavoidable.”

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