Government "Sincerely Apologizes for Leak of Social Distancing Adjustment Document"... Also Apologizes for Video Criticizing 'Floor Noise' (Update)

Son Young-rae, Head of Strategic Planning Team at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The government expressed its sincere apologies regarding the prior leak of documents related to the adjustment plan for social distancing measures. It also apologized for the promotional video recently criticized for causing inter-floor noise.

On the morning of the 2nd, Son Young-rae, head of the Strategic Planning Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH), stated during a COVID-19 briefing that "unconfirmed contents were leaked, causing social confusion" in relation to the document leak controversy.

The previous day, a photo of a document titled "Adjustment Plan for Social Distancing in the Metropolitan Area," dated the 30th of last month and issued under the name of the CDSCH, was circulated online. The document included details about extending the 2.5-level social distancing in the metropolitan area for three weeks until the 24th, as well as measures regarding the limited operation of academies, ski resorts, sledding hills, and ice rinks.

Prior to this, on the 31st of last month, there was an incident in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi-do, where a post titled "Extension of Metropolitan Area Social Distancing" was uploaded to an Instagram account but was quickly deleted.

Son explained, "The leaked material on the internet was a document presented during the first discussion of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters two days ago, and the content was significantly changed after further discussions." He added, "We will urge caution to prevent such incidents not only at the central level but also among local governments. The dissemination of unconfirmed information by public officials constitutes a breach of official secrets, which is subject to criminal investigation by the police. We will review the intentionality and illegality to decide whether to request an investigation."

On the same day, the government announced that the 2.5-level social distancing in the metropolitan area and the 2-level distancing in non-metropolitan areas, scheduled to end on the 3rd, as well as the special measures to strengthen quarantine during the year-end and New Year period, will be extended for two weeks until the 17th.

Meanwhile, the government also apologized for the video titled "Stay Home! We'll Point Out the Key Quarantine Rules!" distributed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare on New Year's Day, which was criticized for causing inter-floor noise in apartment complexes. The government said, "We apologize to the public for not having considered this issue in advance." The video showed a family of six dancing energetically at home to encourage citizens exhausted by COVID-19, but it was criticized for being inappropriate given the serious quarantine measures in place and for not taking into account the problem of inter-floor noise.

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