Kim Young-jin: "Among 137 COVID-19 cases in the port by mid-September, 125 are foreigners"

Kim Young-jin, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] As of mid-September this year, a total of 137 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported at six major ports in South Korea.

According to the "2020 COVID-19 Confirmed Cases in Ports" data submitted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to Kim Young-jin, a member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Maritime Affairs Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, since the first confirmed COVID-19 case at Busan Port in April, a total of 137 confirmed cases have occurred at ports across the country as of mid-September this year.

Among the 137 confirmed cases, 125 were foreigners and 12 were Koreans. All 125 foreigners were crew members, with the majority being Russian nationals at 102. There were 16 confirmed cases of Filipino nationality and 7 Indonesian confirmed cases. Among Koreans, 9 were employees of ship repair companies, 2 were crew members, and 1 was security personnel who tested positive.

Looking at the confirmed cases by port, Busan Port and Gamcheon Port in the Busan area had the highest number of confirmed cases at 121. They were followed by Pohang Port with 8, Yeosu Port with 3, Incheon Port with 2, Pyeongtaek Port with 2, and Ulsan Port with 1. Notably, from April to mid-July, COVID-19 cases occurred only at Busan ports such as Busan Port and Gamcheon Port, but on July 26, a confirmed case was reported at Incheon Port. Since then, up to the recent case on September 19 at Yeosu Port, the range of ports with COVID-19 cases has gradually diversified.

When a confirmed COVID-19 case occurs on a vessel, crew members who had contact with the confirmed case are immediately quarantined on board, and measures such as disinfection and movement restrictions are implemented on the vessel.

Assemblyman Kim said, "The number of ports where COVID-19 infections occur is gradually increasing, and the spread of COVID-19 within ports is happening regardless of nationality, both foreigners and Koreans," adding, "Thorough entry management for crew members entering ports and stringent disinfection of ports and vessels must be carried out without any gaps to block the spread of COVID-19."

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