[President-Party Dialogue] President Moon: "If China bans entry, we could also become a target country for other nations" (Summary)

April 28 National Assembly Meeting, Hwang Kyo-ahn Advocates Ban on Chinese Entry... Consensus on Poor Mask Supply Management Issues

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] President Moon Jae-in on the 28th reportedly said regarding the call for a complete ban on Chinese entry as a solution to the 'Novel Coronavirus Infection (COVID-19)' that "If a complete ban is imposed, our case could be substituted by other countries, and South Korea could become a banned country by other nations."

President Moon made this remark during a dialogue with the leaders of the four ruling and opposition parties held at the National Assembly Sarangjae, according to Kang Hoon-sik, chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea. President Moon said, "The number of Chinese entering, which was close to 20,000 per day, has decreased to 1,000," adding, "There is concern about other countries restricting and quarantining (our citizens) as confirmed cases increase, and there should be no diplomatic disadvantages."

Kim Jong-dae, spokesperson for the Justice Party, also conveyed that President Moon said, "Entry bans are impossible and have no practical benefit," and "It is not desirable to politicize this issue," pointing out that banning Chinese entry could lead to disadvantages for South Korea.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, Hwang Kyo-ahn, leader of the United Future Party, claimed during a meeting with President Moon, "The current crisis is decisively influenced by the government's failure in response. Above all, the initial response failed. A ban on entry from China should have been implemented at the early stage of the crisis."

Yoo Seong-yeop, co-leader of the Minsaeng Party, also said, "Unfortunately, the government's initial response to COVID-19 was clearly a failure. There should have been more vigilance," adding, "The government's complacent judgment and response, falling into a sense of safety negligence, ultimately escalated the situation to this extent. However, now is not the time to assign blame."

Sim Sang-jung, leader of the Justice Party, raised a counterargument, saying, "Leader Hwang Kyo-ahn keeps talking about the lockdown of China. But I think mentioning the lockdown of China at this stage could justify other countries' lockdown of South Korea," while Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, emphasized, "The ruling and opposition parties must work together to promptly pass the supplementary budget to support the budget for overcoming the disaster."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In this regard, President Moon said, "I will prepare an emergency supplementary budget and submit it to the National Assembly as soon as possible to sufficiently support various necessary aids with the budget. The key is speed."

Meanwhile, President Moon also said he would come up with a solution to the mask supply crisis. According to Kim Jong-dae, spokesperson for the Justice Party, President Moon said, "If masks are insufficient, additional extraordinary measures can be taken," and regarding the government's poor management of mask supply, he reportedly said, "I fully sympathize and will make improvements."