Yoon Seok-yeol Faces Another 'Quarantine Rule Violation' Controversy... Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Requests Correction

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential pre-candidate of the People Power Party, is greeting Jogye Order monks with a joined-hands gesture at the Korean Buddhist History and Culture Memorial Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 30th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] It has been revealed that Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential pre-candidate of the People Power Party, who conducted campaign activities without wearing a mask, received a correction request for violating COVID-19 quarantine guidelines.

On the 30th, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) notified the People Power Party Secretariat regarding Yoon’s maskless campaigning among a large crowd during his visit to Jukdo Market in Pohang, Gyeongbuk on the 17th, and requested correction to ensure mask-wearing at the same event in the future.

The CDSCH stated, "We notified the secretariat of the relevant party and requested correction to strictly comply with the mask-wearing quarantine guidelines when the same individual visits the same traditional market at the same location in the future."

According to the CDSCH’s "Mask-Wearing Quarantine Guideline Compliance Manual," if a distance of 2 meters or more from others cannot be maintained, masks must be worn regardless of the distancing stage or whether indoors or outdoors. Violators are instructed to wear masks, and if they fail to comply, fines are imposed according to relevant laws.

On the same day, Yoon also showed disregard for quarantine rules at the Korean Buddhist History and Culture Memorial Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul. While Jogye Order officials were waiting outside the building for former Prosecutor General Yoon, he arrived by car without a mask and greeted the monks with a gesture of clasped hands. Afterward, when an aide handed him a mask, he put it on belatedly.

Meanwhile, Yoon was also embroiled in controversy for violating quarantine rules when he visited the National Assembly on the 2nd of last month for his entry ceremony into the People Power Party. On the 23rd of last month, Lee Chun-seok, Secretary General of the National Assembly, said at the National Assembly Steering Committee full meeting, "Yoon’s side applied through the People Power Party lawmaker’s office a day before the visit, stating that seven people would visit, but it was denied due to violation of quarantine rules. However, the next day, you participated and toured the lawmakers’ office building, and the National Assembly security department said it was a violation of quarantine guidelines."

Regarding this, on the 4th of last month, a spokesperson for Yoon’s campaign said, "We strictly followed general quarantine rules, including temperature checks and mask-wearing. We did everything to prevent the spread of common infectious diseases," and apologized, saying, "If we have to explain the failure to comply with the National Assembly’s own quarantine rules, we admit that we did not fully comply."

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