Oops, Anyone Who Didn't Receive Relief Supplies? Busan Gijang-gun to Retroactively Provide Aid to Overseas Arrivals in Self-Quarantine Who Were 'Missed'

O Gyuseok, Mayor of Gijang County, Issues Urgent Directive to Ensure No Self-Quarantined Individuals Missed Since October 10 Last Year

Busan Gijang County Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] “Provide relief supplies to all self-quarantined individuals without exception, even retroactively.”

Oh Gyu-seok, the mayor of Busan’s Gijang-gun, gave an urgent order, after legal review, to provide relief supplies to self-quarantined individuals arriving from overseas.

On October 10, 2020, Mayor Oh instructed that relief supplies be given to all self-quarantined individuals, but it was revealed that those arriving from overseas had not received supplies, causing some commotion.

Upon receiving this report on the 21st, Mayor Oh ordered, “From the day the instruction to provide relief supplies to self-quarantined individuals was given until now, provide relief supplies to all overseas-arriving self-quarantined individuals as well, after reviewing relevant laws including election laws.”

Mayor Oh stated, “The relief supplies for local contact self-quarantined individuals, which had been uniformly provided to all, were selectively distributed starting March 6 without the knowledge of the disaster response headquarters chief, who is also the mayor. The audit department should investigate the circumstances and hold responsible parties accountable according to laws and principles.”

He continued, “Currently, crimes of survival related to COVID-19, like ‘Corona Jean Valjean,’ are increasing. When quarantined, people cannot go to work and even a cup of ramen or an egg is precious. Budgets should be used in times like this.”

Currently, the relief supplies for self-quarantined individuals in Gijang-gun amount to 48,000 KRW, the highest level in Busan.

Mayor Oh instructed, “From the 22nd, raise the amount to 70,000 KRW to improve the quality and quantity of relief supplies.”

Since March 6, a total of 677 self-quarantined individuals who had not received relief supplies have been identified in Gijang-gun. As of April 20, supplies were retroactively provided to 430 people, and the plan is to complete distribution to all remaining individuals by April 21.

From the 22nd, according to the mayor’s order, the amount for relief supplies to local contact self-quarantined individuals will be increased from 48,000 KRW to 70,000 KRW.

A Gijang-gun official said, “Last month, the number of local contact self-quarantined individuals surged to over 100 per day, causing delays in delivering relief supplies and inconvenience. We will do our best to manage and support self-quarantined individuals to prevent such cases from happening again.”