[Q&A] Clubs and Hunting Pocha Can Open, But No Crowding Allowed

Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, Social Distancing Level 1 from the 12th
High-Risk Facility Gathering Ban Lifted Except for Direct Sales Promotion Centers
Quarantine Rules Tightened, Including One Person per 4㎡

A prohibition order is posted at the entrance of a club in Itaewon, Seoul, where a COVID-19 cluster outbreak occurred last May. / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Social distancing measures in response to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) have been downgraded to Level 1 starting from the 12th. This comes just over two months after the measures were strengthened to Level 2 in mid-August due to an outbreak centered around churches in the metropolitan area. From this day forward, businesses classified as high-risk facilities, including clubs and other entertainment bars that had been restricted from operating, as well as singing rooms and large academies with over 300 people, will be allowed to operate. However, penalties have been strengthened, including fines imposed on facility managers or users if quarantine rules such as wearing masks are not properly followed. We have summarized what has changed and how in a Q&A format.

Q. Which types of businesses are resuming operations?

Under the previous Level 2 measures, all high-risk facilities except distribution logistics centers were subject to gathering bans. A gathering ban prohibits groups of two or more people from assembling, which effectively means no business operations. From this day forward, only direct sales promotion centers such as door-to-door sales remain subject to gathering bans. Other businesses such as hunting pubs, emotional pubs, entertainment bars including clubs and room salons, karaoke rooms, indoor standing concert halls, large academies with over 300 people, indoor group exercise facilities (GX, Zumba, Tae Bo, etc.), and buffet restaurants will be allowed to operate.

Q. Are there additional rules to follow?

Facility managers, business owners, and employees must continue to follow existing quarantine rules such as managing visitor logs, prohibiting entry of symptomatic individuals, and wearing masks. Entertainment facilities such as hunting pubs, emotional pubs, entertainment bars, and karaoke rooms will have limits on the number of users. Only one person per 4 square meters based on the facility’s permitted or reported area is allowed. Considering that a famous club in the metropolitan area is about 500 pyeong (approximately 1,652 square meters), this means only about 400 people can be admitted at the same time. Previously, a 500-pyeong club advertised a capacity of about 1,500 people, so the number must be limited to less than one-third of that. This measure is to prevent people from being packed closely together. Users inside the facility must maintain a distance of at least 2 meters, and this is being enforced. Depending on the risk level in each region, time-based operations such as operating for 3 hours followed by a 1-hour break may also be applied.

The game between Doosan and LG held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on May 5, when this year's professional baseball season opened, is being conducted without spectators. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Q. Is it possible to attend the professional baseball postseason games in person?

Professional sports, which had been held without spectators, will now allow admission up to 30% of seating capacity. Originally, Level 1 allows up to 50% spectator capacity, but the plan is to gradually increase this while monitoring the situation. For professional baseball, ticket reservations for games from the 13th onward are now possible, and if the situation stabilizes, it is expected that fans will be able to attend postseason games starting early next month in person. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has initially set the spectator capacity at about 20% to mid-20% for each stadium. For example, Jamsil Stadium, which has about 24,000 seats, is expected to admit around 5,000 spectators.

Q. Can people attend church services?

Previously, non-face-to-face worship was the principle, but now in-person attendance is allowed. However, in the metropolitan area, the number of attendees is limited to within 30% of the seating capacity. In non-metropolitan areas, local governments will implement measures according to regional conditions. As before, individual meetings or meals related to church activities remain prohibited due to the high risk of droplet transmission and infection.

Q. When will social welfare facilities and daycare centers reopen?

Social welfare facilities such as welfare centers, senior citizen centers, daytime care facilities for the disabled, community child centers, and all-in-one care centers, as well as daycare centers, will be allowed to operate. Strict quarantine measures will be enforced as with other facilities. During the COVID-19 crisis, which is comparable to a disaster, facilities serving vulnerable groups should have taken a more proactive role, but instead, they were among the first to close, causing significant harm. There have been many calls to resume operations of these welfare facilities as soon as possible.

Q. When will fines for not wearing masks be enforced?

This measure, based on the revised Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, will be implemented starting from the 13th. There will be a one-month grace period for guidance, and fines will be imposed starting from the 13th of next month. This applies to facilities and places where many people gather, such as restricted gathering facilities, public transportation, assembly and protest sites, medical institutions, and nursing facilities where infection spread is particularly dangerous. Facility managers and operators can be fined up to 3 million KRW, and violators up to 100,000 KRW. Mesh masks, valve-type masks that may allow droplets to escape, and covering the face with clothing are not recognized as proper masks. Unlike fines that require court rulings, administrative fines can be imposed immediately, so health authorities expect this to have an immediate effect.

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