Hong Nam-ki Assures Song Seok-jun on "12 Million Vaccinations by Mid-Year" Despite Criticism of 'K-Quarantine'

"Confirmed Cases in the 600-700 Range, Quarantine Measures to Be Maintained for the Time Being"

Song Seok-jun, Member of the People Power Party [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Acting Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki said on the 21st that the government's response to COVID-19 prevention "was not bad."

On the same day, Song Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party, criticized the government's quarantine measures during a parliamentary question session. Song pointed out, "Looking at the statistics, cluster infections (number of confirmed cases) are decreasing, but individual infections of unknown origin (number of confirmed cases) are increasing," adding, "This means the current method is wrong."

In response, Acting Prime Minister Hong said, "There are confirmed cases whose infection routes are unknown, so the government is also vigilant," and added, "However, compared to other countries or past cases, I think the tracing and response to confirmed cases are not that bad."

Song also repeatedly criticized the government's quarantine policies such as social distancing, emphasizing, "The public's suffering has passed the critical point."

Acting Prime Minister Hong said, "As it has been over a year, about a year and three months, of COVID-19, public fatigue has accumulated," and added, "We will maintain the current measures, and since the number of confirmed cases is around 600 to 700, we will sustain the quarantine level for the time being."

He then mentioned 'early vaccine distribution' as a fundamental measure to resolve the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Song questioned, "Countries that introduced vaccines early have already started to regain normal life, but what about our country? Did the government do its best to introduce vaccines?"

In response, Acting Prime Minister Hong said, "The government's top priority is securing vaccines and vaccination," and stated, "We plan to complete vaccinations for 3 million people by April and 12 million by the first half of the year. Once 22% of the population is vaccinated, daily life can somewhat begin."