Jowon Tae, Chairman of Hanjin Group, Says "Government's Easing of Quarantine Measures Is Too Slow"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Cho Won-tae, chairman of Hanjin Group, argued that South Korea's COVID-19 quarantine easing is too slow and that the government should lift quarantine measures targeting air passengers.

In an interview with the British daily Financial Times (FT) on the 19th, Chairman Cho explained, "Reservations for the next three months are fully booked, but we cannot increase flights due to passenger number restrictions."

He said, "We should accept 80% or 90% of passenger capacity, but currently it is 25%," adding, "We cannot sell more tickets, so the government needs to open the borders."

He also pointed out, "People want to travel to resorts such as Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam," and criticized, "Mandating PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests for all passengers entering Korea is nonsense."

Regarding the merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, he stated, "Korean Air has not expanded enough, and global competition is intensifying," and argued, "The merger is an opportunity and a step for survival, and Korea cannot afford to have nine airlines as it does now."

Referring to the transport of billions of masks and diagnostic kits to the United States, Chairman Cho said, "We expected the U.S. competition authorities to take a favorable stance on the merger, but it is regrettable that approval has not yet been granted," emphasizing, "If merged with Asiana Airlines, consumers traveling to Southeast Asia and China from the U.S. will benefit."

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