On Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, customers wearing protective masks pay for their purchases at a vegetable vendor in Mangwon Market in Seoul, South Korea. Getty Images | Bloomberg | Bloomberg Given its relative success in curbing the spread of Covid-19, South Korea is aiming to open up its economy and work on tourism bubble programs, its deputy prime minister said CNBC in an exclusive interview. According to Hong Nam-ki, who is also South Korea’s minister of economy and finance, the government wants to promote consumption and further stimulate the economy in the second half of this year, and policies will be in place to achieve that goal. According to a CNBC translation of his Korean statements, he told CNBC’s Chery Kang on Friday, “I would argue that the current government has been relatively successful in both infection control and vaccination.” “The current government seeks to foster economic growth while retaining such health measures, based on the achievements.” In reality, he stated that South Korea plans to achieve herd immunity by November, which implies that the virus will be unable to spread as quickly because the majority of the people will have been fully vaccinated or will have developed immunity via illnesses. As of last week, 30% of South Korea’s population has gotten vaccines, with Hong predicting that the country will reach 70% by September. Our current objective is to attain herd immunity by November, but I believe we will be able to accelerate the timeframe. Nam-ki Hong Deputy Prime Minister of South Korea According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the country has reported more than 155,500 illnesses and at least 2,015 deaths as of Monday — relatively low numbers compared to most Asian countries. According to Hopkins, India, which has the greatest number of infections in Asia, has officially reported around 30.2 million cases as of Monday. According to the report, Indonesia has 2.11 million instances and the Philippines has roughly 1.4 million. “Our current objective is to establish herd immunity by November,” Hong stated, “but I believe we will be able to accelerate the schedule.” “We believe the Covid-19 situation will be under control if the inoculation goes as planned. Then, beginning in July, the steps to encourage consumption and economic recovery can proceed without interruption. And we will continue to work in that direction.” However, if the pandemic worsens, he warns, it would be impossible to advance policies aimed at promoting economy. According to Hong, the South Korean government intends to fund travel bubble programs for persons who have been properly immunized. A travel bubble is a pre-arranged agreement with another country that allows people from both nations to travel without quarantine if specific criteria are met, such as negative Covid tests or full vaccination. However, whether or not the travel bubble would occur is contingent on vaccine efforts and conversations with other nations, he said, declining to name them. The Singapore newspaper Straits Times reported in early June that South Korea was looking into creating a travel bubble with a few countries, including Singapore and Taiwan, to allow quarantine-free travel for persons who had been vaccinated. “I expect that, depending on health conditions, vaccination rates, and the amount of immigration convenience, more nations will be on the list for countries that are in demand for tourism,” Hong told CNBC. “I believe we need to keep working with private tour operators to assess the viral situation and determine which places to visit,” he added. For the time being, residents can partake in “flights to nowhere,” a destination-free notion pioneered by a few countries during the pandemic. “There were flights offered without landing even if you couldn’t go abroad,” Hong explained. “Passengers might fly all the way to Japan, hover above the country’s skies, then return without landing. Many people were interested in this, and it was widely used “He was referring to the flights that were introduced last year in South Korea. “We feel that if the health situation improves and the vaccine campaign accelerates, we will be headed in that direction.” Continue reading
