Coronavirus disrupts S. Korean parliament, judiciary, gov’t operations

SEOUL, Feb 24, 2020, Yonhap. South Korea’s parliament, judiciary, and government on Monday scrambled to ward off the spread of new coronavirus which forced state institutions to suspend and cut back their events and operations, Yonhap reported.

The country reported 161 additional cases of the new coronavirus on Monday morning, raising the total number to 763. A 62-year-old man was reported to have died on Sunday, bringing the nation’s death toll to 7.

The National Assembly called off its plenary session scheduled for Monday afternoon, after it was learned that a coronavirus patient attended a parliamentary forum last week.

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the opposition United Future Party (UFP) agreed to the cancellation after it became known that UFP floor leader Shim Jae-chul had come into contact with the patient in the forum and was to take a test for COVID-19, officials from the two parties and the Assembly said.

The National Assembly was scheduled to convene an interpellation session with Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun and other Cabinet members over political and national security issues.

On Saturday, Ha Yun-su, president of the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations, was quarantined at a Seoul hospital after being confirmed to have gotten infected through contact with his wife.

Ha attended a forum at the National Assembly last Wednesday. Shim and two other UFP lawmakers who participated in the conference were tested Monday, party officials said.

The two parties will discuss new parliamentary schedules after the test result for Shim comes out, DP deputy floor leader Yoon Hu-duk said.

Later in the day, health authorities said the lawmakers are not officially counted as having come in contact with the virus, as they met the patient before he showed symptoms.

UFP chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn suspended his planned meetings with small business owners and merchants in Jongno, central Seoul, where he will run in the April 15 parliamentary elections. He sat by Shim during a daily party meeting early Monday.

The two parties also canceled the general meetings of their lawmakers scheduled to be held before the plenary session.

The Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee delayed its sessions scheduled for early this week after one of aides to the committee’s chairman was known to have contacted a confirmed patient. The aide tested negative, the chairman’s office said.

The National Assembly closed some entrances to its buildings as a precaution against the virus. Almost all participants in the parliamentary events and party meetings wore protective masks.

The ruling DP expanded its special committee on the coronavirus and appointed former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon its chair.

The Office of Court Administration recommended courts across the country delay or reschedule trials which are not urgent. It is considering cancelling a meeting of court chiefs slated for March 6.

The fast spreading of the novel virus is also disrupting the government operation.

The unification ministry cancelled a tour of the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The ministry had planed to hold a pilot event for new ways of Panmunjom tour from Wednesday to Friday for Seoul-based diplomats, people who hailed from North Korea, and separate families divided across the border. The ministry said the event will be delayed due to the coronavirus.

The ministry also postponed the opening ceremony for a center in Seoul aimed at promoting harmony between North Korean defectors and local residents. The event, scheduled for late March was delayed to until after April.