Local Government Heads and Council Members Under Consecutive Self-Quarantine... Political Sphere Also on COVID-19 Alert

Park Beom-gye, Lee Sang-min, and Jo Seung-rae 'Test Negative'... Sejong Mayor and Others Under Self-Quarantine

Park Beom-gye, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] As the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is resurging, some lawmakers have entered self-quarantine after undergoing COVID-19 diagnostic tests, putting the political sphere on alert.

Park Beom-gye, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who had indirect contact with a journalist from an internet media outlet confirmed positive for COVID-19, tested negative in his diagnostic test.

On the 25th, Park posted on his Facebook, "After 24 hours of waiting, the result is COVID-19 negative," adding, "Since I am not a close contact, I am not subject to self-quarantine."

Park said, "Ha Tae-kyung and Kim Ki-hyun, members of the United Future Party, who appeared on broadcasts with me last Friday and Monday, asked, 'How are you doing?' and 'Do we also need to self-quarantine?'" He urged, "Even if we have different views, we are inevitably members of one national society. Let's try to get along as best as we can."

After attending the Democratic Party Daejeon City Party Executive Committee meeting held at Opera Wedding in Seo-gu, Daejeon on the 18th, Park received notification that a journalist who covered the event tested positive, and he underwent a COVID-19 diagnostic test on the 24th.

In addition, ruling party lawmakers who attended the event also underwent COVID-19 diagnostic tests and entered self-quarantine, indicating that the impact of COVID-19 will continue within the political sphere.

It was confirmed that six lawmakers from the Daejeon area, including Hwang Un-ha, Lee Sang-min, Park Young-soon, Jo Seung-rae, and Jang Cheol-min, attended the event. Lee Sang-min and Jo Seung-rae tested negative, while Park Young-soon, Hwang Un-ha, and Jang Cheol-min are awaiting their test results.

Also, Lee Chun-hee, mayor of Sejong City, was classified as a contact and underwent testing after a journalist from an internet news outlet who attended the city briefing on the 20th tested positive for COVID-19. The mayor plans to self-quarantine for 14 days until the 3rd of next month.

Candidate Lee Nak-yeon, who was classified as having close contact with a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and is under self-quarantine, is sharing updates on his self-quarantine status through his Facebook. Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, Lee Nak-yeon, a Democratic Party member running for party leader, was classified as a close contact of a COVID-19 positive individual and underwent testing.

After an interview on the 17th at the CBS Radio program "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show," Lee was notified that the previous guest tested positive for COVID-19. Although Lee tested negative, he was classified as a close contact and ordered to self-quarantine for two weeks until the 31st.

Former and current members of the United Future Party who attended the Gwanghwamun rally in Seoul on the 15th also underwent COVID-19 testing. Hong Moon-pyo, a current United Future Party lawmaker, and Min Kyung-wook, a former lawmaker, tested negative, but former lawmaker Cha Myung-jin tested positive and was transported to a hospital.

Cha Myung-jin underwent a COVID-19 diagnostic test at the Gapyeong Cheongpyeong-myeon Public Health Center near his residence on the 18th. He was confirmed positive around 4 a.m. on the 19th and showed pneumonia symptoms, and is currently receiving treatment after being transferred to a negative pressure isolation room.

On the 24th, Cha explained his symptoms on his Facebook, saying, "I woke up feeling like I had done hard physical labor somewhere," and "Even though I drank warm water frequently, my tongue feels dry."

On the 25th, he posted another message, stating, "They say it’s a negative pressure room, but its purpose is to prevent the disease from escaping outside, so it doesn’t help the patient at all," adding, "Because the rooms are scarce, four patients share one room. There are no slippers, and the self-diagnostic kits are primitive. Among the four patients here, including myself, three belong to the Taegeukgi Unit."

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