Embarrassment at National Airport Over Incorrect Hanja for Chinese Arrivals (子)

Not "입국자 (Ipgukja)" but written as "입국자 (Ipgukja)"

Since the implementation of the stringent quarantine measures requiring all arrivals from China to undergo COVID-19 PCR testing on the afternoon of the 2nd, a sign installed at the arrival hall of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport mistakenly displays the Chinese characters for "arrivals" as '入國子' instead of '入國者'. Photo by Yonhap News

On the first day of mandatory COVID-19 PCR testing for arrivals from China, April 2, it was reported that the Chinese character for "arrivals" (入國者) was mistakenly displayed as "入國子" on an internal sign at Incheon International Airport.

On that day, a sign installed in front of the PCR waiting line at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport displayed the phrase "Chinese arrivals" in both Chinese characters and English.

However, the Chinese character for "arrivals" used the incorrect character '子 (ja)' instead of the correct '者 (ja)'. This was an error on an official sign that travelers encounter immediately upon arriving in Korea.

After receiving complaints from citizens who saw the sign, it is reported that the Chinese characters on the sign have now been corrected.

According to an Incheon Airport official, the sign was not made by the airport itself but was created independently by the airport quarantine office.

Meanwhile, on the first day of mandatory post-arrival PCR testing for all arrivals from China, 61 people tested positive among those who entered the country through Incheon Airport. Of the 1,052 passengers (including crew) on flights from China, 309 short-term foreign residents staying less than 90 days were tested immediately at the Incheon Airport testing center, with 61 confirmed positive, showing a positivity rate of 19.7%.