On the afternoon of the 19th, British English instructor Kelly Brennan enters the waiting room of the screening test center to be tested for Corona 19 at the Health Center in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Mr. Brennan, who was tested for Corona 19 for the first time in accordance with Seoul’s administrative order, criticized the city of Seoul, saying, “If the government requires only non-professional foreign workers to be tested, it can be seen as discrimination between countries.” Intern reporter Han Jin-tak
The Seoul Metropolitan Government’s action, which forced foreign workers to be tested for the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19), was eventually withdrawn due to the criticism that it was a discriminatory response to a specific group. The government requested the Seoul Metropolitan Government to withdraw the executive order, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government turned the executive order into a recommendation. Gyeonggi Province, which made it mandatory to submit a negative PCR confirmation before hiring foreign workers, also decided not to force it.
On the 19th, the Central Accident Recovery Headquarters (recovery) announced on the 19th that “the City of Seoul requested the withdrawal of the administrative order for foreign worker diagnosis and examination and to promptly improve it.”
As the number of corona19 confirmed cases in the metropolitan area did not decrease, the government introduced special measures for quarantine in the metropolitan area, including measures to strengthen the management of foreigners who have recently encountered a group infection. Regarding the concerns of discrimination against foreigners, the government enforced it, saying, “It is not discrimination but an encouraging measure.” Until the morning of the day, Tae-ho Jung, head of the quarantine prevention department, emphasized that “the incidence of confirmed foreign workers has more than doubled in recent years, and this is a measure to enable them to actively receive tests like Koreans.”
Accordingly, from the 17th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has made it mandatory for foreign workers to undergo a corona19 diagnostic test, and issued an administrative order imposing a fine of 2 million won or less if they refuse to do so. According to this executive order, 4,139 foreigners on the 17th and 6,434 foreigners on the 18th were examined.
However, the backlash continued to spread. The issue of discriminatory treatment of foreigners began to arise at major universities in the city, such as Seoul National University, where foreign faculty and staff are present, and the British Embassy in Korea filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. Human Rights Commissioner Choi Young-ae also said, “The policy of excluding or separating migrants can lead to hate crimes based on race,” and said that he plans to initiate an investigation immediately.
As the controversy spread like this, the government eventually stepped back. On this day, the Seoul Metropolitan Government changed the’administrative order’ to’recommended’, and the subject of diagnostic tests was also changed from’all foreign workers’ to’foreign workers working in high-risk workplaces’. Gyeonggi Province also withdrew its plan to recruit only foreign workers whose negative was confirmed in the PCR diagnostic test.
Jinjoo Kim reporter [email protected]
Park Minsik reporter [email protected]
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