"Afraid of Retaliation"... Wearing No Mask, Spitting, Yet Only Silent Suffering

A citizen is walking without a mask in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] Son Jeong-soon (63), who lives in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, recently had a series of unpleasant experiences. She encountered a middle-aged woman moving from one exercise equipment to another on a nearby neighborhood walking trail in the early morning, continuously spitting on the ground. On the 3rd, Son said, "During this sensitive time due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), encountering such behavior made me avoid the area out of anxiety of 'what if'," adding, "I couldn't ask her to stop spitting for fear of getting involved in an unexpected dispute." Other residents walking nearby also expressed their dissatisfaction only in muttering and quickly left the scene.

Earlier, Son also witnessed a female middle school student near her residence spitting continuously while talking on her cellphone with her mask hanging on her chin. At that time, she could only frown and leave the place. She said, "I was afraid of being targeted if I pointed it out unnecessarily..."

In fact, recently, there have been incidents where drivers or passengers were assaulted after requesting people who were not wearing masks properly on public transportation to wear them. As social distancing was raised to level 2.5 mainly in the metropolitan area, and the government and quarantine authorities urged strict compliance with quarantine rules for community safety, many who follow the guidelines well have been distressed due to such incidents and accidents.

On a community board of an apartment complex in the metropolitan area, a complaint post was uploaded saying, "I saw some children playing in groups of 3 to 4 at the playground without wearing masks," and "I am worried about possible exposure to COVID-19, so I am afraid to go outside with my children."

Currently, government-level channels are operating to issue business suspension orders for high-risk facilities with concerns of cluster infections or to report businesses violating quarantine rules. According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, a total of 1,862 reports related to COVID-19 violations were filed on the 'Safe Report' platform operated by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety from the 29th to the 31st of last month. Among these, 1,189 reports were related to violations of quarantine rules.

Notably, there was a case where more than 50 people gathered in a confined space every weekend for a prize event at a model house, raising concerns about infection transmission, and some businesses were reported for inadequate social distancing and not wearing masks during morning meetings.

On the 2nd, a Seongbuk-gu Office official is holding up a mask-wearing sign at the entrance of Jangwi Traditional Market near Sarangjeil Church in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

In addition, some local governments have issued administrative orders mandating mask-wearing in public facilities, but when individuals do not wear masks properly outdoors or engage in deviant behaviors such as spitting, it is left to their conscience and efforts to appeal for restraint.

Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, emphasized at a briefing the day before, "Based on the experience of controlling cluster outbreaks in Daegu and Gyeongbuk from February to March and in the metropolitan area from May to July, infectious disease disaster situations cannot be overcome by the efforts of individuals or a single group alone," adding, "The current efforts of mutual consideration and reliance will determine the scale of the outbreak next week or throughout September."

The quarantine authorities aim to reduce the daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases from the recent resurgence, which spread through metropolitan religious facilities and the August 15th rally in downtown Seoul, to below 100 cases. As of midnight on that day, the number of new domestic confirmed cases was 195, dropping below 200 for the first time in 17 days since the 17th of last month (197 cases).

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