INCREASING NUMBER OF KOREANS RETURN HOME

[Anchor Lead]

A series of coronavirus cases are being confirmed at Incheon Airport with Korean nationals returning from the U.S. and Europe. On Monday alone, ten percent of the 1,400 people entering Korea were placed under quarantine for having related symptoms. Statistics show that an increasing number of Korean expatriates are rushing back to Korea, as the COVID-19 outbreak is intensifying overseas.

[Pkg]

Having arrived from London, a Korean traveler hands over her luggage to her family. Now, she has to take the coronavirus test.

[Soundbite] "(Is this an unscheduled return?) Yes it is."

[Soundbite] CHUNG DA-SOM(KOREAN STUDENT STUDYING IN UK) : "Suddenly, all students started to return to Korea. I had no plan to come back. But I had to return, since my school in the UK canceled the semester."

She decided to come back to Korea due to the fast spread of COVID-19 and the aggravating situation in the U.K.

[Soundbite] OH HYUN-TAEK(KOREAN STUDENT STUDYING IN UK) : "In the UK, people are not wearing masks and I was worried that I might get infected. Most of Korean students, about nine tenths, have come back to Korea."

More and more Korean people are returning home from abroad as the virus continues to spread worldwide. The airport's departure hall, meanwhile, is virtually empty and few travelers can be seen. Arrivals began to outnumber departures in the second week of March when the coronavirus epidemic was starting to rage through Europe and the U.S. Over the weekend, there were 10,000 more arrivals than departures. However, more and more Korean expatriates are unable to return home due to travel restrictions and flight cancellations in their countries of residence. Seoul's foreign ministry has decided to send a chartered plane to bring back some 650 Korean people from Italy, which is one of the countries hit hardest by the epidemic. In an emergency move, Korean expatriates in the Philippines are working to secure a flight on their own. Some 400 Koreans are grounded in Peru with borders closed. Lots of Koreans are desperate to come home, but they journey back is proving difficult. The ministry has set up a task force to help Korean nationals return home from abroad. One out of five daily coronavirus infections in Korea is a case imported from overseas. With a spike in people returning from abroad, Incheon Airport has now become a critical front-line in the nation's battle against the epidemic.