SEOUL, South Korea’s prime minister said Friday that the nation’s COVID-19 response has reached a point of “critical crisis” amid a recent surge in new virus cases and vowed to take all available measures against a mass labor union rally planned for this weekend in Seoul.
“Our country’s antivirus measures, which the public has painstakingly endured and amassed during the past year and a half, have reached a point of critical crisis. We must strengthen our coronavirus response,” Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said in a nationally televised address.
The statement came as South Korea’s daily new virus cases soared to a nearly six-month high of 826 on Friday as infections in the greater Seoul area continued to spike amid woes over a potential surge in variant cases.
Kim stressed that the government can always elevate its social distancing guidelines through consultations with local governments when necessary.
He asked the public to refrain from holding private get-togethers for the time being and urged people, including those inoculated with vaccines, to wear masks when indoors and even in crowded outdoor places.
The prime minister then repeatedly warned of a stern response to the rally planned by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), a militant labor umbrella group with about 1 million members.
“Should the union push ahead with the rally as planned, the government will have no choice but to deal sternly with it, mobilizing all means available,” he said, noting that holding a mass rally in the greater Seoul area, currently experiencing a surge in new daily COVID-19 cases, would have the effect of “pouring oil over a trail of fire.”
Earlier in the day, the KCTU vowed to press ahead with the rally on Saturday as scheduled, despite objections raised by police and the Seoul city government due to fears over the spread of COVID-19.
The Seoul metropolitan government planned to raise the cap on permissible outdoor rallies from the current nine to 49 people Thursday. It, however, decided to hold off on the plan for one week just hours before the new rules were set to take effect, amid a recent spike in new virus cases in the city.
The surge in new virus infections in the wider Seoul area, home to half of the country’s 51.34 million population, also forced health authorities to delay the enforcement of the eased distancing measures by one week till July 7.
After reviewing the trend of new virus cases, they will discuss next week whether to implement the loosened rules.
Source: Yonhap News Agency