Court Rejects Suspension Request for Social Distancing in Daejeon and Sejong Cities

The Corona Victims Self-Employed General Federation (Coja General Federation), consisting of 14 self-employed organizations including the Korea Federation of Restaurants, held a "Government Condemnation Gwanghwamun Rally" on the 15th at the Gwanghwamun Citizen Open Square in Seoul. They demanded the abolition of business hour restrictions, retroactive application of loss compensation and realization of 100% compensation, inclusion of self-employed persons with sales exceeding 1 billion KRW in loss compensation, preparation of separate support measures by Seoul and local governments, and additional application of loss compensation for all businesses opened after the outbreak of COVID-19. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The court rejected the request for a suspension of the enforcement of the extended social distancing measures (vaccine pass, business hour restrictions, private gathering limits) related to COVID-19 imposed by Daejeon City and Sejong City.

The Administrative Division 1 of the Daejeon District Court (Presiding Judge Oh Young-pyo) on the 18th dismissed the injunction request filed by 1,513 plaintiffs, including high school student Yang Daerim (19), seeking to suspend the enforcement of the quarantine compliance orders issued by the mayors of Daejeon and Sejong.

The court stated, "Given the current situation where the Omicron variant has become the dominant strain, it is recognized that restrictions on the number of participants in gatherings and events, as well as operating hours of multi-use facilities, are necessary to prevent the spread of infection," and added, "In the case of the vaccine pass, it is difficult to view the fundamental rights of unvaccinated individuals as being excessively restricted."

However, the court dismissed the injunction request naming the Minister of Health and Welfare as the respondent, stating, "The administrative body imposing the obligation to comply with quarantine rules is the local government."

Yang and other plaintiffs have appealed the court's decision.

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