A South Korean team on Thursday left for Vietnam to support more than 310 South Korean nationals quarantined there over fears of novel coronavirus.

“The most important thing is to help our citizens who want to return to Korea, through consultations with the Vietnamese authorities,” Kyun Jong-ho, who heads the 12-strong “rapid response” team, told reporters at Incheon International Airport before taking off in the morning.

Consisting of officials mostly from the Foreign Ministry and the National Police Agency, the team will split into three groups and cover three different areas where Korean nationals are quarantined. 318 citizens were placed in isolation upon arrival in Vietnam at military facilities and hospitals, with 174 in Hanoi, 125 in Ho Chi Minh City and 19 in Danang. The ministry added most of people who are quarantined are residents of Vietnam, and only few have expressed a desire to return to Korea for now.  

Korea is battling a snowballing number of COVID-19 cases, with 6,088 infections and 41 deaths as of Thursday.

Effective Sunday, Vietnam imposed all visitors from Korea to be put under 14-day quarantine at isolated facilities, a change from its initial policy that banned the entry of foreign nationals who have traveled to the southeastern city of Daegu and neighboring Gyeongsang Province, where the overwhelming majority of infection cases here have been identified. 

Members of the response team have received exemption from the 14-day quarantine by the Vietnamese authorities, according to the ministry. 

As of Thursday, there are around 1,226 Korean nationals quarantined overseas, with China on the top with 860 citizens, followed by Vietnam. At this time, Seoul is not considering sending a separate response team to China, as diplomatic missions in the region will take care of the people for now.

“I believe (the teams) in close cooperation with our diplomatic missions in the country can lessen difficulties facing our citizens,” said Kang, who was at the airport to encourage the team members.

She expressed hope that many countries would start to lift their entry ban and restrictions against Koreans, once the coronavirus outbreak curtails. On the growing number of partnering countries imposing ban on Koreans, Kang stressed that the restrictions were inevitable due to their own quarantine system, not because of reduced cooperation or relations with Korea.

“There were very many confirmed patients, as the results centering Daegu region came out. But I believe the number will drop now,” she said. “Once the situation in Korea calms down, we expect our partner countries to lift the measures.”

As of Thursday, 98 countries and territories have imposed entry restrictions or special quarantine procedures for Koreans, including 37 places that have enforced an outright entry ban, with the latest being Australia.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)