RESURGENCE OF VIRUS CONCERNS COLLEGES

[Anchor Lead]

Many Koreans are concerned of a resurgence of cluster infections following confirmed COVID-19 cases from night clubs. Colleges that have just now resumed in-person classes and students who have to attend those classes are among them.

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​This professor finally got to meet his students in the classroom two months after the term started. Hankuk University of Foreign Studies started holding 200 offline classes with fewer than 30 students this week. Yesterday, all eight students in this English class showed up.

[Soundbite] JUNIOR, DIVISION OF INT'L STUDIES, HUFS

But some nervous students said they would rather continue to study online.

[Soundbite] ROBERT DAVIS(PROFESSOR, COLLEGE OF ENGLISH, HUFS)

Libraries and other school facilities were made accessible to students for the first time in two months. Some seats were taped off and group seating was banned just in case.

[Soundbite] "I was really looking forward to this day."

Seoul National University's College of Music started teaching musical instrument classes in person since last week.

[Soundbite] "Don't move your shoulders. That's right. The sound is echoing because of the glass."

A glass barrier has been put up to prevent close contact or spray of spit.

[Soundbite] LEE YEON-JIN(GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MUSIC, SEOUL NAT'L UNIV.) : "She can tell me right away what I need to fix. I have my worries, but it will be okay as long as we pay better attention to our personal hygiene."

Yonsei, Korea, and Kyung Hee Universities have also resumed in-person courses. But some colleges, such as Kookmin and Incheon National University, have decided to monitor the situation in the wake of cluster infections at Seoul night clubs before opening the classrooms.