Korean Man in His 60s Arrested for Visiting the Sauna During His Self-Isolation Period
A Korean man in his 60s was arrested and confined for violating his self-isolation measures two times in a row despite the continued spread of COVID-19 around the country.
Following interrogation of the suspect, the chief prosecuting attorney issued an arrest warrant for Mr. A (68).
The causes of arrest include the worry that he could flee in the case that he doesn’t have a constant residence, and seeing from the violations he made against self-isolation, it was made clear that an arrest warrant was required.
– Chief Prosecuting Attorney
Two days after Mr. A returned from the States and was ordered to self-isolate, he roamed around the entire Songpa-gu, Seoul region before the police brought him back to his home within 30 minutes.
But on the same day, Mr. A left his place of self-isolation once more and visited a sauna and restaurant.
Although Mr. A was tested negative for COVID-19, Songpa-gu followed the Infectious Disease Prevention Law and reported him to the police.
This is the first arrest made on a suspect for violating self-isolation measures in the midst of the COVID-19 spread in Korea.
This first arrest is predicted to influence similar cases that could arise in the future.
The Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency explained that many factors will be considered in the issuance of future arrest warrants on those who violate their self-isolation measures.
We will consider factors such as their ability to infect others, how many people they’ve made contact with, if they fled multiple times, and if they tried to conceal the truth when issuing arrest warrants.
– Commissioner
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency revealed that they investigated a total of 28 suspects for violating their self-isolation measures, three of which were sent over to the prosecution.
According to the Infectious Disease Prevention Law in Korea, those who violate their self-isolation measures can be sentenced to up to 1 year in prison and up to 10 million won (~$8000 USD) in fines.
