(Unofficial Translation)

I am glad to personally meet local residents here in Jincheon-Eumseong Innovation City and those in the vicinity of the temporary living quarters for the quarantined Koreans returning from Wuhan. I’m also very grateful to all of you. A new infectious disease – with symptoms not yet accurately identified – was rampant in Wuhan, and the city itself was closed off. Under these circumstances, local residents here had every reason to feel anxious when it was announced that Koreans living in Wuhan would be evacuated to this area and placed under quarantine in temporary quarters.

Nonetheless, Jincheon-Eumseong residents shook off their misgivings and decided to bear the returnees’ difficulties jointly and even embrace them all the more warmly since each one was a Korean national. I am once again grateful to you for compassionately caring for those from Wuhan as if they were your family and brothers and sisters. In the process, I understand Chungcheongbuk-do Governor Lee Si-jong, Jincheon County Mayor Song Gi Sub and Emseong County Mayor Jo Byung-Ok have played a great part. 

To reciprocate your kind concern, those from Wuhan under quarantine here are also expressing their gratitude for your warmth in various ways. I was told that they have even unveiled a plan, for their part, to launch a fund-raising campaign to help the region, in a belief that their heartfelt appreciation is not enough. The warm and considerate hearts of Jincheon-Eumseong residents and the extraordinary gratitude reciprocated by those from Wuhan have given enormous inspiration to our people and made them recognize that a national government is necessary for this kind of undertaking. For this reason, I am grateful to you all once again. 

The fear that the temporary living quarters might lead to infections in the local community has now been put to rest, but we are facing yet another hardship as the local economy is encountering difficulties due to various psychological constraints. Therefore, in order to solve the hardships facing the local economy, the central Government and those of Chungcheongbuk-do Province and the counties of Jincheon-gun and Eumseong-gun will do everything we can. I believe that the local public institutions and private businesses here will join forces to that end. 

With regard to Jincheon-Eumseong Innovation City, I’ve heard that some in Eumseong have had some regrets as only Jincheon has been spotlighted to date. They worry that the Government’s attention and support might be lopsided in Jincheon’s favor, but that will not happen. The Government will give sufficient attention to Eumseong-gun as well. 

One thing I’d like to note at this juncture is that when the temporary living quarters were first announced, there were in actuality many things that we didn’t know about this new infectious disease. However, since we have dealt with various infectious diseases domestically to date, we’ve now come to learn a lot about the relative risks of this one – whether we’re responding sufficiently and properly, what our weak points are and what needs to be enhanced. Of course, numerous things still remain obscure. As a matter of fact, we have yet to fully ascertain how long this situation will last and how dangerous it is.

However, given the domestic situation we’ve seen while undergoing the outbreak so far, it has now become clear that – though this is a novel infectious disease – our society is at least able to keep it under thorough control and overcome it. 

A second thing is that the disease is considered to be highly contagious, but if each and every one of us properly follows such individual safety guidelines as washing hands or wearing face masks, this will be enough for us to prevent infections. Even if someone were very unfortunate and became infected, they could be adequately cured as long as they received appropriate treatment promptly since it is not a disease with a high fatality rate. This fact has now become clear. 

According to specialists, even if an infected person visits certain locations, there is little risk of another infection occurring there because the virus will be entirely exterminated once the patient’s movements have been tracked and verified and the locations disinfected. We have to do all we can about the new infectious disease while staying alert and taking as much precaution as possible, and this is the responsibility of the Government. Therefore, people can pass on all of their disease-related stress or anxiety to the Government, and they’ll have no reason to be overly concerned. I hope that the people will now come to understand that we will be able to surmount the situation quite safely if they listen to the guidelines given by the Government and take the necessary safety measures. 

Under these circumstances, public events like “moon house” bonfires to mark the first full moon of the lunar year have likely all been cancelled. Festivals like this that draw large crowds should be avoided as much as possible, but it is now certain that we can go about our normal lives; there’s no need to cut back on spending or other daily economic activities. The Government, for its part, will put various measures in place and do all it can so that our economy will return to normal as quickly as possible with no strain on either the national or local economies. 

Thank you.