DISPUTE SURROUNDING EASED RESTRICTIONS

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Eased restrictions are mostly aimed at providing incentives to fully vaccinated people. Controversy over discrimination against the unvaccinated will likely escalate with the introduction of vaccine passes.

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Vaccine passes will be used as the main tool for returning to normal life in phases. For example, spectators at movie theaters and baseball stadiums will be allowed to eat only if fully vaccinated people are permitted to enter the venues. Authorities say vaccine passes are designed to be an incentive, not a means of discrimination.

[Soundbite] Sohn Young-rae(Central Disaster Management HQs) : "Those with negative PCR tests, children younger than 18, and those who cannot get vaccinated for health reasons will be exempt from restrictions when using public facilities."

Negative PCR test certificates are only valid for two days - so from the time you receive the test result until the midnight of the day when 48 hours will have passed. This means the unvaccinated who want to use fitness centers every three days must get tested each time. Controversy is also brewing over the limit on gatherings. The number of the unvaccinated is limited when ten people get together at restaurants or cafes. However, when it comes to events of fewer than 100 people, vaccination is not a factor. Authorities cite that frequent gatherings pose a bigger threat than one-time events. Because of the limit on the unvaccinated at restaurants and cafes, private gatherings during the year-end holiday season are unlikely to return in full swing. A surge in the number of daily Covid-19 cases will be inevitable once the restrictions are eased.

[Soundbite] Jeong Eun-kyeong(KDCA Director) : "The gradual return to normal life is not about going back to the way we used to live before the pandemic. It's about making our daily lives safer and better."

If the first phase of the living with Covid-19 scheme goes successfully, health authorities will consider lifting the outdoor mask mandate by mid-December.