83-Person Group Infection: Jinju Lee and Tongjang Visit Entertainment Venues on First Day of Jeju Training

The executive committee of the Neighborhood and Tongjang Association in Jinju-si, Gyeongnam, who caused controversy due to the spread of COVID-19 infections after the Jeju training, is bowing their heads in apology after holding a press conference in front of Jinju City Hall on the 4th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Ju Cheol-in] Jinju City, Gyeongnam Province, where 83 people including participants were infected after conducting a training session for village chiefs and neighborhood leaders in Jeju last November during the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), has been warned.

Upon receiving the report of the group infection at the time, Governor Kim Kyung-soo said, "It is inappropriate for village chiefs and neighborhood leaders, who have frequent contact with residents, to attend group training sessions during a time when concerns about COVID-19 resurgence are becoming a reality, regardless of the reason," and stated that strict responsibility would be demanded.

On the 10th, Gyeongnam Province announced the results of an inspection, stating that the group infection occurred because the Jinju village chiefs and neighborhood leaders ignored the provincial guidelines and proceeded with the training session.

The Jinju village chiefs and neighborhood leaders visited entertainment establishments such as massage shops and traveled individually from the first day of their arrival in Jeju on November 16 last year. However, it was later revealed that this was kept undisclosed.

According to the provincial investigation, Jinju City failed to properly notify all towns, townships, and neighborhoods of the provincial request to refrain from group training sessions. Therefore, the village chiefs and neighborhood leaders in Seongbuk-dong were unaware of these provincial guidelines when they attended the Jeju training session, the province said.

The province also revealed that Jinju City was negligent in guiding quarantine rules such as conducting diagnostic tests for symptomatic individuals even after the Jeju training session. The province imposed an institutional warning on Jinju City for this responsibility and notified that three related public officials who decided on and accompanied the group training would receive severe disciplinary action, while two others would receive light disciplinary action.

The province stated, "Significant budget was spent on the hospitalization and treatment of these confirmed cases, including 150 million won for diagnostic tests for about 2,400 close contacts, and the closure of administrative offices and the elevation of social distancing to level 2 caused inconvenience to residents and damage to small business owners, creating public unrest in the local community."

The province confirmed that group training sessions for village chiefs and neighborhood leaders were also held in 10 other cities and counties besides Jinju, and took light disciplinary and admonitory actions against 39 related public officials and department heads. The deputy heads of the respective cities and counties were also cautioned for negligence in overall management responsibility.

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