Starting Today, Hagwon and Reading Rooms Must Enforce 'One Seat Gap'... Fines for Violations

Adjustment of Crowd Density After Lifting Quarantine Pass... 3-Week Guidance Period Ends

On the 6th, as the quarantine pass (vaccination certificate or negative test confirmation) is newly applied to indoor multi-use facilities such as restaurants, cafes, academies, and PC rooms, there is strong opposition to the application of the quarantine pass to teenagers. On this day, a COVID-19 quarantine-related notice is posted at an academy in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Starting from the 26th, academies must seat one person per 2㎡ if there are no partitions, or seat students with one seat gap in between, and reading rooms must also have one seat gap between users if there are no partitions.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 26th, from this day onward, if academies or reading rooms do not adjust user density by measures such as 'one seat gap seating,' fines will be imposed. This measure, which has been in effect since the 7th, had a grace period until the previous day (25th), and from this day forward, violations will result in fines.

Accordingly, academies must limit density by seating one person per 2㎡ or by leaving one seat gap, and reading rooms and study cafes must also implement one seat gap seating. Seats with partitions are excluded from the gap seating requirement.

Depending on the type and characteristics of the academy, mandatory measures such as arranging seats in one direction, ventilating classrooms before and after use, and confirming rapid antigen test results upon admission to dormitory-type academies must also be followed.

Facility operators who violate quarantine guidelines will be fined 500,000 KRW for the first violation, 1,000,000 KRW for the second or more, and 2,000,000 KRW for the third or more violations. Users who violate the guidelines will be fined 100,000 KRW per violation.

The reason academies and reading rooms must follow such strict quarantine measures is that the quarantine pass requirement for these facilities was lifted on the 18th of last month. The government lifted the quarantine pass for six types of facilities including academies, reading rooms, department stores, and large marts, while implementing higher-level quarantine measures than before.

Department stores and marts have also been enforcing strengthened quarantine measures such as banning eating inside stores since the 7th. However, the grace period was only applied to academies, reading rooms, and study cafes.

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