100,000 Won Mask Fine Announced in Seoul

GIKorea | November 2, 2020 | Seoul | 7 Comments

It will be interesting to see how strictly this is enforced. If it is enforced like traffic violations that means there will not be much enforcement:

This photo shows a poster at a bus stop explaining that mask wearing is mandatory in Seoul. (Yonhap)

The Seoul metropolitan government will begin imposing fines of 100,000 won (US$88) on those who do not wear face masks in public next week, a measure aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
Enforcement of mandatory mask wearing will begin Nov. 13 after a one-month trial period, officials said.
Exceptions will be made for children under the age of 14, the disabled and those diagnosed with a medical condition that makes it difficult for them to breathe through a mask.
Yonhap

The mask ordnance even applies in restaurants and bars:

Of the multiuse facilities, the rule will apply to not only bars, karaoke rooms and buffet restaurants that are limited-entry establishments under the government’s Level 1 social distancing guidelines, but also 16 “medium-risk” facilities including private academies, arcades, houses of worship and indoor wedding halls.

I am not sure how you eat and drink with a mask on so it seems this will be difficult to enforce in these establishments. This mask ordnance will probably be much to do about nothing.

0 0 votes

Article Rating

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

7 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Kevin Kim

4 years ago

I was down in Busan just last week at the end of my third trans-Korea walk, and the W100,000 fine threat was visible everywhere. The citizens of Busan seemed to be taking the threat seriously; most of them were wearing masks. Seoul strikes me as slightly more relaxed, but maybe that’s about to change as more and more liberties get shaved away.

J6Junkie

4 years ago

Commie Seoul government cash grab. Probably only targeting foreigners too.

ChickenHead

4 years ago

Those who think this won’t be enforced underestimate the desire of government to make up for lost tax revenue through easy-to-enforce regulations with big fines.

setnaffa

4 years ago

CH is right. There will be enough “Karens” around to “narc” on anyone not following the rules.

en wikipedia org/wiki/Crab_mentality

There are two related quotes from Robert Heinlein:

1. Luck

Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

This is known as “bad luck”.

2. Neighbors

Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.