Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Hwang Kyo-ahn, second from right, chairman of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, and other party members hold a meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap |
By Kang Seung-woo
Amid growing public concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party's (LKP) calls for "preventive measures" are raising eyebrows as many of them may be inciting hatred of China and Chinese people.
The opposition party has called for banning Chinese nationals from entering Korea and deporting those who are already here. Party members are intensifying these calls as the epidemic has snowballed, killing more than 170 people and infecting nearly 8,000 in China. Korea has reported six confirmed cases.
"Chinese from Wuhan and Hubei Province, where the coronavirus is rampant, are admitted to Korea without proper quarantine process. The government has not dealt with the coronavirus thoroughly," Rep. Won Yoo-chul of the LKP said during a party meeting at the National Assembly, Wednesday.
"I will submit a revision bill to the Quarantine Act to impose an entry ban on foreigners who stayed in Wuhan or passed through the city."
Won submitted the bill after the meeting.
Won's action is in line with a recent online petition posted on Cheong Wa Dae's website which urged the government to ban all Chinese people from entering Korea. Nearly 600,000 people agreed with the idea as of Thursday.
"Malaysia has imposed a temporary ban on Chinese nationals arriving from Wuhan and Hubei Province to stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. In addition, the public strongly want such a preventive measure, so the government needs to take a swift action," Won added.
Cho Kyoung-tae, another LKP lawmaker, said, "The government should temporarily ban Chinese people from coming to Korea and send those who are now visiting here back to China immediately."
The four-term lawmaker also said in a media interview, "It has nothing to do with anti-China sentiment and it is a call on the government to prioritize the safety of the Korean people as other countries such as Taiwan, the Philippines and Hong Kong do."
Cho also slammed the government for its decision to provide 2 million masks to China to help the efforts to fight the virus, saying, "The government should be committed to supporting its nationals first."
Kim Moo-sung, a six-term veteran lawmaker, went further, saying the government needs to assume that the whole of China is infected with the coronavirus. "The government should do its utmost (in terms of) quarantine efforts because even a small loophole could put Korea, a country close to China and frequented by Chinese travelers, in danger," Kim said.
Rep. Yoo Seong-min of the minor opposition New Conservative Party also urged the government to ban Chinese and Koreans from visiting each other's countries if necessary.
However, government officials say such a ban on nationals of a specific country is unlikely according to international law. "It is the right thing to strengthen quarantine measures and screen people with symptoms regardless of nationality. Banning people based on nationality can cause a huge problem," Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo said Wednesday.
A Cheong Wa Dae official also said the World Health Organization (WHO) has not recommended restricting travel and trade. "We are complying with the WHO decision," he said.
In addition, history is not on the LKP's side as the previous administrations did not ban Chinese nationals and Middle Easterners from entering Korea when Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) broke out.
"Such claims went too far," said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University.
"If the situation gets worse, we need to move in line with other countries. Considering relations between Korea and China, it is nonsense for the Korean government to independently do so."
In response, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) criticized the opposition side for stoking anti-China sentiment that could trigger diplomatic problems.
"Some opposition lawmakers are trying to use the global crisis as a political agenda and causing a phobia about Chinese," DPK spokesman Rep. Park Chan-dae said. "It is irresponsible that they call for impractical measures and trigger hatred."
