Gwangju City "Spent a Peaceful and Safe Chuseok Holiday"

Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, visited the Sangmu Police Substation in Seo-gu on the afternoon of the 4th, the last day of the Chuseok holiday, to encourage the police officers on duty. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City reported that it experienced a peaceful holiday without major incidents such as COVID-19 cluster infections or large fires during the five-day Chuseok holiday.

According to Gwangju City on the 4th, during the Chuseok holiday period, approximately 1.43 million visitors traveled to Gwangju via Gwangju Songjeong Station, Gwangcheon Terminal, the airport, and private vehicles, while about 1.31 million returnees left Gwangju.

Due to restrictions on movement to prevent COVID-19, the number of visitors decreased by 21.7% and returnees by 24.3% compared to last year's Chuseok.

Additionally, around 73,000 people visited municipal cemeteries during the holiday, showing a 64.8% decrease in visitors compared to last year, resulting in a quiet atmosphere.

This was due to citizens actively participating in COVID-19 prevention by using online non-face-to-face memorial services or visiting memorial facilities in a dispersed manner during the holiday period to comply with quarantine guidelines.

During the holiday, Gwangju City increased the frequency of city bus No. 518 heading to the National 5·18 Democratic Cemetery from 40 to 88 trips per day, adjusted city buses No. Jiwon 15 and Yongjeon 86 to operate toward Yeongnak Park, and deployed about 50 police officers and public officials around national and municipal cemeteries to minimize traffic inconvenience for visitors.

Furthermore, Gwangju City operated a quarantine response organization and personnel on a regular basis to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Twelve screening clinics and one infectious disease dedicated hospital were operated normally, and five situation rooms including ▲COVID-19 Situation Room ▲Epidemiological Investigation Team ▲Emergency Response Team for Self-Quarantined Persons ▲Quarantine Management Response Team for Prohibited and Restricted Facilities ▲Infectious Disease Laboratory staffed 385 personnel to maintain a response system for COVID-19 cluster outbreaks.

Moreover, 25 emergency medical institutions provided 24-hour emergency medical services during the holiday. A total of ▲374 medical institutions ▲727 holiday duty pharmacies ▲8 public health clinics operated on a duty roster to provide medical services to citizens.

To ensure stable fuel supply during the holiday, 280 gas stations and 57 LPG filling stations operated normally, and 47 LP gas sales outlets operated on designated days by region.

A 24-hour emergency water supply situation room and a water supply mobile response team were also operated to minimize inconvenience in citizens’ daily lives.

During this Chuseok holiday, there were ▲6 fires ▲21 traffic accidents ▲782 rescue and emergency cases, but most were minor incidents, and prompt responses by the 119 emergency medical teams prevented any major accidents.

The 365 Civil Complaints Office and various situation teams handled 192 civil complaints, and the Gwangju 120 Bitgoeul Call Center processed 536 consultation requests.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop visited related agencies such as the Sangmu District Police Station and the Northern Fire Station on the last day of the holiday to encourage frontline workers who were on duty to ensure citizen safety during the holiday period.

Gwangju City established the ‘2020 Chuseok Special Quarantine and Citizen Life Stability Measures’ to help citizens and visitors have a healthy and safe holiday, implementing 50 tasks across two areas for COVID-19 response and citizen convenience. During the holiday, a comprehensive situation room composed of six teams and 155 personnel was operated to ensure citizens could spend a comfortable and safe Chuseok holiday.

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