Due To Cases Of COVID-19 In The Press Room, South Korean President Suspends The Daily QnA Agenda With Journalists

JAKARTA - South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol suspended his daily morning question-and-answer session with reporters Monday, due to the COVID-19 case in the press room, officials said.

Doorstops when President Yoon arrives for work, have become a daily routine, except on days when the president travels outside the capital, allowing reporters to ask him questions about the pressing issues of the day.

Following the COVID-19 case in the press room, which is located in the same building as Yoon's office, the presidential office said the doorstop would be "temporarily suspended."

Direct reporting of the president's public activities will also be "minimized," while press conferences of the spokespersons will be in written form as much as possible.

Instead, the presidential office said it would soon provide footage and photos of the president's activities through photojournalists and official presidential videos, and regularly answer reporters' questions and answer them faithfully.

"The work space of the Yongsan Presidential Office is very congested, while the president's office and the press room are not separate," the presidential office said in a notice, reported the Korea Times on July 11.

"Therefore, given the vulnerability to the spread of infectious diseases, we ask for understanding from journalists," continued the announcement.

The move comes as South Korea has entered a new wave of COVID-19 amid the rapid spread of mutated strains of the highly contagious omicron, with experts warning the daily number could jump to around 200.000 next month.

As of Monday, Ginseng Country reported 12.693 new cases of COVID-19 infection, according to local health authorities.