Coronavirus: South Korea condemns Japan’s ‘excessive’ plans to quarantine visitors

Japan has defended its decision to quarantine visitors from South Korea and China for 14 days even though it has renewed bilateral tensions

This comes as South Korea reported 196 new Covid-19 cases, taking its total to 6,284, with 42 deaths

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South Korean Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun, left, speaks during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at the government complex in Seoul. South Korea has criticised Japan's 14-day quarantine on all visitors from South Korea. Photo: AP

Published: 11:38am, 6 Mar 2020Updated: 11:31pm, 6 Mar 2020

South Korea on Friday criticised Japan’s decision to ask its citizens to quarantine themselves on arrival to stem the coronavirus outbreak, hinting at its mistrust of the new restrictions that it said had not been sufficiently discussed by both sides.

This came as South Korea reported 309 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, taking the country’s total number of cases to 6,593, with 42 deaths.

The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed “deep regret” over Japan’s latest travel restrictions, and called for them to be immediately withdrawn, saying it was mulling reciprocal measures such as raising its travel advisory alert for the country.

South Korean soldiers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant on the street to help prevent the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, in Seoul. Photo: AFP

Tokyo defended the measures, saying they were not too late to help slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. There were 1,057 cases in Japan as of Friday morning – including those from the virus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise liner – and 12 people have died of the disease.

“The decision was the result of a comprehensive review of the information available about the situation in other countries and the effects of other measures,” chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference on Friday. “I think the timing is appropriate.”