Seoul Considers New Curbs as Virus Cases Climb

South Korea has reported 42 new infections of COVID-19 as infections steadily climb in the greater capital area. (AFP)
South Korea has reported 42 new infections of COVID-19 as infections steadily climb in the greater capital area. (AFP)
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Seoul Considers New Curbs as Virus Cases Climb

South Korea has reported 42 new infections of COVID-19 as infections steadily climb in the greater capital area. (AFP)
South Korea has reported 42 new infections of COVID-19 as infections steadily climb in the greater capital area. (AFP)

South Korea has reported 42 new infections of COVID-19 as infections steadily climb in the greater capital area, forcing authorities to consider stronger social restrictions.

The figures announced by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday brought the national caseload to 12,757, including 282 deaths.

Twenty-four of the new cases were reported from capital Seoul and nearby metropolitan areas, which have been at the center of a virus resurgence since late May. At least 12 of the new cases were linked to international arrivals as the virus continues to strengthen its hold elsewhere around the world.

South Korea was reporting hundreds of new cases a day in late February and early March following a major surge surrounding the southeast city of Daegu, where the majority of infections were linked to a single church congregation with thousands of members.

But while health authorities had used aggressive testing and contact tracing to contain the outbreak in that region, they are having a much harder time tracking recent transmissions in the Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of the country’s 51 million people live. With people increasingly venturing out in public, new clusters are tied to a variety of places.

Health Minister Park Neung-hoo during a briefing Sunday afternoon announced that the government is prepared to implement stronger social distancing measures if the epidemic continues to grow.

He said the strongest measures — including banning all gatherings of more than 10 people, shutting schools, halting professional sports, and restricting operations of non-essential businesses — will be enforced if the daily increase in infections doubles more than two times during a span of a week.



Iran Says It Will Respond to Reimposition of UN Sanctions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
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Iran Says It Will Respond to Reimposition of UN Sanctions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)

Iran will react to any reimposition of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program, the country's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, without elaborating on what actions Tehran might take.

A French diplomatic source told Reuters last week that European powers would have to restore UN sanctions on Iran under the so-called "snapback mechanism" if there were no nuclear deal that guaranteed European security interests.

The "snapback mechanism" is a process that would reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran under a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted the measures in return for restrictions on Iran's nuclear program.

"The threat to use the snapback mechanism lacks legal and political basis and will be met with an appropriate and proportionate response from Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told a press conference, without giving further details.

The 2015 deal with Britain, Germany, France, the US, Russia and China - known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - states that if the parties cannot resolve accusations of "significant non-performance" by Iran, the "snapback mechanism" process can be triggered by the 15-member UN Security Council.

"The European parties, who are constantly trying to use this possibility as a tool, have themselves committed gross and fundamental violations of their obligations under the JCPOA," Baghaei said.

"They have failed to fulfill the duties they had undertaken under the JCPOA, so they have no legal or moral standing to resort to this mechanism."

Western countries accuse Iran of plotting to build a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies.

The United States pulled out of the deal in 2018 under the first administration of President Donald Trump, who called the agreement "weak".

Trump, whose second presidency began in January, has urged Tehran to return to nuclear negotiations on a new deal after a ceasefire was reached last month that ended a 12-day air war between Iran and Israel that destabilized the Middle East.

When asked if Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would meet with Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, Baghaei said no date or location had been set for resuming the US-Iran nuclear talks.