'Government Joint Special Quarantine Inspection Team' detects 11,200 violations of quarantine rules... Actions include prosecution and business suspension

14 Reports of Quarantine Rule Violations, 27 Business Suspensions, 73 Fines, 1212 Corrections, 9884 Guidance and Education Cases
Measures to Ensure On-Site Compliance with Quarantine Rules to Be Implemented Until Stabilization of Quarantine Situation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The government's joint special COVID-19 prevention inspection team detected 11,210 cases of violations of quarantine rules during a focused inspection period from the 1st of last month for 25 days, taking measures such as prosecution, business suspension, and fines.

On the 3rd, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced the results of operating the government joint special prevention inspection team for 25 days from July 8 to August 1, focusing on strengthening tension at quarantine sites and suppressing the increase in confirmed cases, mainly in the metropolitan area. The inspection involved 763 personnel from five central ministries, local governments, and the National Police Agency, concentrating inspections on 59 cities, counties, and districts in the metropolitan area and 15 districts in Busan.

The inspection team took actions including 14 prosecutions, 27 business suspensions, 73 fines, and 1,212 corrective measures, while also conducting 9,884 guidance and advisory activities on quarantine rules following the introduction of the revised social distancing system. The team, together with the police, forcibly opened doors of entertainment establishments operating secretly with locked doors to confirm violations of gathering bans and proceeded with prosecutions.

In karaoke rooms, restaurants, and cafes, business suspensions were mainly imposed for violations such as drinking and eating inside the premises, operating after 10 p.m., and gatherings of three or more people after 6 p.m. Additionally, fines were imposed on academies, bathhouses, religious facilities, lodging facilities, and indoor sports facilities for violations such as not wearing masks, failure to keep visitor logs, and not checking employees’ symptoms.

During the inspection period, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety identified 21 issues including difficulties and suggestions from local governments and business owners, as well as necessary improvements to quarantine rules, and requested related ministries to review institutional improvements.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare is reviewing management plans to strengthen control of unmanned lodging facilities related to quarantine rules and improving quarantine rules for group exercises (GX) with high droplet transmission risk. The Ministry of Education is improving manuals for schools and nearby academies in case of confirmed cases, and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is enhancing quarantine rule guidance for foreigners through its website. Local governments were notified to actively promote the revised social distancing quarantine rules and to consider priority vaccination for on-site inspection officials during voluntary vaccination.

Based on the inspection results, the Prime Minister’s Office ‘Corruption Prevention Task Force’ will review the appropriateness of local governments’ quarantine violation sanctions, provide guidance and advisory support to those found insufficient, and recommend claims for damages and legal support for cases of cluster infections, intentional, or repeated violations. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency plans to collect cases requiring sanctions to present to local governments to ensure enforcement and will share additional review opinions on ambiguous quarantine violation cases in the future.

Going forward, the inspection team plans to focus inspection capabilities on five types of facilities, excluding academies, private institutes, and bathhouses, which have high inspection rates and low confirmed cases among the currently targeted seven vulnerable sectors. These include religious facilities, karaoke rooms (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), indoor sports facilities (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), entertainment facilities, and restaurants and cafes (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety). Additionally, strategic redeployment of on-site inspection personnel will be gradually implemented, shifting staff from regions with low confirmed cases (less than five per day) and good quarantine management to areas with many confirmed cases such as Gangnam and Seocho.

Minister Jeon Hae-cheol urged, “Please handle violations of quarantine rules according to law and principles,” and added, “If the quarantine situation is judged to be severe, please proactively implement strengthened on-site quarantine measures suitable for local conditions, such as gathering bans or business hour restrictions for high-risk facilities.”

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