Mayor Lee Yong-seop: "We will strictly punish the 0.1% who violate quarantine rules and protect the 99.9% of citizens"

Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop is conducting an online briefing on COVID-19 at the city hall briefing room on the afternoon of the 31st. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City is taking strong measures against those who violate quarantine rules.

On the afternoon of the 31st, Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop stated in an online COVID-19 briefing, "We will protect the Gwangju community through the highest level of punishment prescribed by law for acts that threaten the safety of the Gwangju community."

Accordingly, Gwangju City will take uncompromising strong measures against ▲ acts of intentionally or repeatedly violating administrative orders ▲ acts of confirmed cases intentionally or repeatedly making false statements or concealing facts ▲ acts of leaving self-quarantine that cause the risk of local infection spread and social unrest ▲ acts of deliberately spreading fake news causing social unrest and confusion ▲ and other acts that cause significant harm to preventing community infection.

In this regard, the city plans to establish a (tentatively named) "COVID-19 Citizen Protection and Strict Punishment Committee" to specify punishment standards and immediately activate the committee to strictly respond, including filing complaints against violations.

However, if the violation is clear, the relevant department will immediately file a complaint as per the current system.

The city sternly warned that failure to comply will result in exclusion from various benefits such as emergency living expenses, emergency disaster relief funds, various tax reductions, reductions in public utility charges and rent, and living support funds for self-quarantined individuals provided by the government or local governments.

Meanwhile, as of today, the total number of complaints filed is 46, including ▲ 4 confirmed cases ▲ 2 churches ▲ 2 door-to-door sales companies ▲ 20 entertainment facilities ▲ 18 self-quarantine cases.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop said, "Some may think this measure is excessively harsh depending on their perspective, but please understand that this is an unavoidable measure to protect the safety of the Gwangju community and the lives of 1.5 million Gwangju citizens, and we ask for your active cooperation."

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