More than 60 percent of Korean employees at South Korean diplomatic and consular offices across China have been infected with COVID-19 over the past two weeks, as a new wave of the virus sweeps through the country.
South Korea has announced that it will suspend its issuing of short-term visas in China until Jan. 31.
Rep. Lee Jae-jung, a member of the main opposition Democratic Party in South Korea, told the media on Dec. 30, 2022, that about 240, or 63 percent, of the 380 South Korean staff members at its 10 diplomatic and consular offices in China have tested positive for COVID-19, South Korean media Yonhap News Agency reported. Lee said her office verified the information with the South Korean foreign ministry.
An official in South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that none of the infected staff have yet to develop severe symptoms, while more than 210 have recovered and returned to work.
With the rapid surge of COVID-19 across China last month, the infection of more than half of the Korean staff also disrupted services at the South Korean Consulate General in Chengdu and the consulate general in Shenyang, which had suspended visa services from Dec. 19 to Dec. 23, 2022.
Early last month, the Chinese communist regime abruptly reversed its draconian zero-COVID policy, which had battered China’s economy and caused extreme suffering among hundreds of millions who endured sporadic lockdowns for almost three years. But the lack of preparation before lifting the policy has resulted in China’s health services and mortuaries being overwhelmed and severe drug shortages in pharmacies.
South Korea Tightens Control of Entry
The South Korean government announced on Dec. 28, 2022, that its Chinese diplomatic and consular offices’ suspending of short-term visas may be extended depending on the situation, except for diplomatic, official, essential business, and humanitarian visas.Meanwhile, South Korea suspended plans it had to increase flights from China. At present, the number of flights from China to South Korea is only 5 percent of what it was before the pandemic. At the same time, all flights from China are required to land at Incheon International Airport for pandemic control measures.
The South Korean government also requires all personnel entering South Korea by plane from China to submit a negative PCR test result within 48 hours before departure, or a negative antigen test (rapid test) certificate within 24 hours of departure, starting from Jan. 5.
However, those entering the country for humanitarian purposes, to attend funerals, or on official business trips, as well as children under the age of 6, don’t need to submit a PCR test result.
On Dec. 30, 2022, the South Korean government also added a requirement for on-the-spot PCR tests from Jan.2 to Feb. 28 for all visitors from China after landing, and they must wait for the test results in designated places. South Korean nationals and long-term residents arriving from China must be tested at the health station in the jurisdiction of the place of residence within one day of arrival and must wait for the test results at the residence.
“We need to urgently prepare for any domestic ripple effects following China’s easing of quarantine rules,“ South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Dec. 30, 2022: ”We will prepare to take stronger measures in case the situation gets worse, if we see a rapid increase of infections from new arrivals or appearance of new variants.”
