Prime Minister Kim: "8,200 COVID-19 Quarantine Violations Detected... Legal Actions Taken"

COVID-19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum is presiding over the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) meeting on COVID-19 response held at the Government Seoul Office Building on the 27th. July 27, 2021. Photo by Yonhap News.

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum stated on the 27th, "Over 8,200 violations were detected during the past 20 days of the 'Government Joint Special Inspection,'" urging local governments to "actively take legal actions such as exercising the right of recourse against illegal activities that caused large-scale group infections."

On the morning of the same day, Prime Minister Kim presided over the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting at the Government Seoul Office and said, "The Prime Minister's Office Corruption Prevention Task Force should review each inspection result once again to ensure strict disciplinary measures are taken." He added, "No matter how strong the measures are, they are useless if not implemented on the ground," warning, "The government will hold those responsible for violating quarantine rules that threaten the community accountable to the end."

From this day, strengthened social distancing measures were also applied to non-metropolitan areas. Prime Minister Kim instructed, "We must achieve meaningful changes within two weeks," and "If local governments judge the quarantine situation to be severe, they should proactively implement bold quarantine reinforcement measures suitable to local conditions, such as banning gatherings or restricting business hours at high-risk facilities."

He also pointed out, "Recently, cases of quarantine guideline violations such as group dinners in the public service sector have occurred repeatedly," emphasizing, "While the majority of citizens are working together to overcome the crisis, the public service sector, which should lead quarantine efforts, must no longer disappoint the people." With the 'Special Inspection for Establishing Public Service Discipline' implemented since the previous day, Prime Minister Kim added, "Each ministry, local government, and public institution should make special efforts centered on their heads to prevent cases of lax public service discipline and violations of quarantine rules."

Regarding the disruption in vaccine supply caused by Moderna notifying schedule adjustments due to production delays, he said, "We are currently negotiating specific and confirmed quantities and dates for the July and August supplies with Moderna," and added, "As originally promised to the public, we will supplement the vaccination plan to ensure there is no disruption in achieving herd immunity by November and will disclose the details soon."