Yongsan-gu Holds Joint Public-Private Meeting on Halloween Day

On the 28th, officials from the district office, police station, tourism police unit, and fire station gathered in the district office main conference room to discuss COVID-19 prevention and safety accident prevention measures.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] “Thank you to the heads of various local institutions for coming together to discuss Halloween measures like this. Please also pay attention to ensuring organic cooperation at the actual sites.”

This was the remark of Hwang Jae-ha, Chair of the Public Relations Subcommittee of the Yongsan-gu Youth Policy Advisory Group, who attended the Yongsan-gu Halloween Day Public-Private Joint Meeting.

Yongsan-gu (District Mayor Seong Jang-hyun) held the ‘Halloween Day Related Public-Private Joint Meeting’ on the 28th at the district office’s large conference room.

This was to prepare for quarantine and prevent safety accidents for Halloween Day, which is just two days away.

The meeting lasted one hour, proceeding in the order of greetings from attending institution heads, presentations on quarantine measures by each institution, Q&A, and open discussion. Forty people attended, including Seong Jang-hyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, Kim Dong-kwon, Chief of Yongsan Police Station, Yoon Sang-hyung, Head of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Tourist Police Unit, Park Beom-yong, Head of Itaewon 119 Safety Center, Kim Hong-seong, Manager of Itaewon Station, and Maeng Ki-hoon, President of the Itaewon Tourism Special Zone Association.

The district has been continuing special quarantine measures against the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) since the 26th.

Main measures include ▲ operation of the Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and on-site response teams ▲ special inspections of high-risk facilities’ quarantine rules ▲ noise control ▲ special street maintenance ▲ cleaning and safety inspections in the Itaewon area ▲ establishment of a cooperation system with related organizations. In particular, on the 30th and 31st, joint inspections of clubs and other food service establishments (167 places) will be conducted together with Seoul City, the Metropolitan Police Agency, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

The inspection items include installation and use of electronic entry logs, symptom checks of entrants and workers, mask-wearing, maintaining at least 1 meter distance between users, limiting the number of users (one person per 4㎡ of reported/approved area), and operation of rest time systems. If violations of quarantine rules are confirmed, penalties (closure orders) and fines will be imposed on the establishments.

Additionally, disinfection in the Itaewon area and crackdowns on noise, street vendors, and roadside clutter will be strengthened. Forty sanitation workers will be deployed daily to prevent garbage accumulation. To prepare for safety accidents, inspections of nearby outdoor signs, roads and traffic facilities, and construction sites will be completed by the 29th.

The Yongsan Police Station will prevent safety accidents and crimes caused by large crowds. Besides joint inspections of high-risk facilities, plans include deploying police mobile units near clubs as bases and securing additional personnel at the Itaewon Police Substation. Jurisdiction for incident reporting will also be temporarily adjusted to ensure smooth handling of reports.

Traffic police will be concentrated in areas with traffic disorder to prevent accidents and facilitate smooth vehicle flow.

The Yongsan Fire Station will operate its own situation room to prepare for emergencies. Preventive patrols with pump vehicles and on-site inspections will continue, and 200 disposable masks and hand sanitizers will be distributed to citizens.

The Itaewon Tourism Special Zone Association will also contribute. At the two world cuisine specialty streets where the most people gather, quarantine gateways will be installed to check visitors’ temperatures, and 60 merchants will take turns participating in disinfection and nighttime patrol activities.

Seong Jang-hyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, “Related organizations are working together actively to prevent a recurrence of cluster outbreaks originating from clubs,” and urged, “Citizens should strictly observe social distancing and quarantine rules.”