Ahn Cheol-soo: "Government Should Utilize Private Platforms to Supply Masks"

"Careful Administration Needed to Prevent Government and Field from Operating Separately"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, proposed on the 27th regarding the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation, “I suggest to the government to supply masks to the public by fully utilizing not only public platforms but also these private platforms,” adding, “Instead, private platforms should be strongly guided on the aspects they must strictly observe from a public interest perspective.”

On the same day, Ahn said on Facebook, “I heard that masks would be sold on Nonghyup Mall starting from the 26th, so I checked it in the morning. The waiting time to access was 38 minutes, and there were about 2,000 people waiting to connect. It seems the server could not handle the traffic,” and added, “Since they cannot handle the flood of orders from the purchase stage, I am worried whether delivery can be made in a timely manner.”

Ahn emphasized, “There are many online shopping malls frequently used by the public. Such private platforms have experience handling many orders and have much more flexible and well-established delivery systems,” and said, “Only when masks can be purchased on private platforms that people regularly use, instead of making people wait 40 minutes on unfamiliar sites and painstakingly enter personal information one by one to order masks, can the 'felt experience' emphasized by the President be realized.”

Ahn said, “Although the government announced sales starting from the 26th, Nonghyup Mall actually said they will start selling from early March due to lack of stock,” and added, “More meticulous administration is needed to prevent the government and the field from continuing to operate separately like this.”