COVID-19 Cases Hit Daily Record... Panmunjom Tours Fully Suspended Again from the 15th

On the 16th, Lee In-young, Minister of Unification, visited Panmunjom, where North Korean soldiers were observing the South with binoculars. Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] As the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) continues to break records daily, tours of Panmunjom will be suspended again.

The Ministry of Unification announced on the 13th, "As a measure to strengthen COVID-19 prevention, tours of Panmunjom will be temporarily suspended starting next week (the 15th)," adding, "We have also consulted with the United Nations Command."

Panmunjom tours had been continuously suspended due to the impact of African Swine Fever (ASF) last year and the COVID-19 situation earlier this year, but were difficultly resumed on the 4th of last month after about a year. However, as the spread of COVID-19 accelerates, the tours are being suspended again in just over a month.

Previously, the Ministry of Unification had stated on the 24th of last month, when social distancing in the Seoul metropolitan area was raised to level 2, that tours of Panmunjom would be maintained as is and would be suspended if the level was raised to 3.

However, recently, although the social distancing level in the Seoul metropolitan area was raised to 2.5, the COVID-19 spread became more severe, and it is known that internal discussions have been ongoing regarding the suspension of tours and other operational methods. The timing of resumption is currently uncertain.

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