Jinju City Imposes Fines for Private Gatherings of Five or More People

More than Half of 45 Cases in Jinju, Entire Gyeongnam Region

Police officers and public officials dispatched after receiving reports of violations of the ban on private gatherings of five or more people [Image source=Jinju-si]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] In Jinju, where a recent cluster infection occurred, cases of violations of the ban on private gatherings of five or more people have exceeded half of the entire Gyeongnam Province, prompting the city to strongly urge citizens to comply with quarantine rules.

According to Gyeongnam Province and Jinju City, as of the 28th, there have been 82 cases and 602 people fined for violating the ban on gatherings of five or more people across Gyeongnam since December, with Jinju accounting for 45 cases and 333 people, more than half. Among these, 12 cases were detected in March when a cluster infection occurred at a bathhouse.

The ban on private gatherings of five or more people has been applied nationwide as a key quarantine rule in the strengthened year-end and New Year quarantine measures during the third wave of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Along with this, among 180 cases of administrative measures and fines imposed for violations of quarantine rules at multi-use facilities across Gyeongnam, Jinju accounted for 44 cases, about 25% of the province.

The most common violation at multi-use facilities was exceeding business hours restrictions, followed by exceeding capacity limits and violations of bans on meetings and events.

If quarantine rules are violated, under the "Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act," business owners may be fined up to 3 million KRW, and individuals may be fined 100,000 KRW each. Depending on the severity, violators may be prosecuted and criminally charged, and all quarantine costs incurred from inspections, investigations, and treatments due to violations may be claimed for reimbursement.

In response, since December last year, Jinju City has operated a "Comprehensive Quarantine Rules Inspection Team" with over 1,200 public officials, focusing inspections on about 12,000 multi-use facilities, including approximately 6,900 restaurants and 500 religious facilities, while promoting and guiding compliance with quarantine rules.

In particular, the city operates a night response team of 9 members in 3 groups, maintaining an organic cooperative system with the police station.

The city has focused more on raising awareness of COVID-19 infection and spread rather than strict enforcement, conducting administrative guidance-level inspections, with about 5,300 cases detected and guided on-site.

Going forward, the city plans to strengthen inspections and crackdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19 based on citizen reports and police cooperation, while continuing campaigns urging voluntary participation in quarantine and strictly enforcing a zero-tolerance policy upon detection of violations.

A city quarantine official stated, “No matter what measures the quarantine authorities take to prevent the spread of COVID-19, they are useless if citizens do not comply,” and urged, “All citizens, as the main agents of quarantine, should actively participate in voluntary and responsible quarantine by immediately correcting any violations around them.”

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