"Please do not quarantine the arrivals. Please guarantee free travel as much as possible. Increase the number of flights."
These are the things Korea requested from China not too long ago.
This is because only China, the only major country, has locked the bolt while adhering to the high-intensity quarantine policy, the so-called 'zero corona' policy.
People coming to China from Korea were required to quarantine for 8 days regardless of whether or not they were infected with COVID-19.
At least, people with a residence in China were allowed to quarantine at home for 3 days after 5 days of mandatory quarantine, but they had to quarantine for 8 days anyway, so it was not easy to endure quarantine and travel between Korea and China.
Moreover, the number of flights between China and Korea was not sufficient, making it difficult for expatriates and international students to find air tickets when going to China.
In some cases, I paid a higher amount to the travel agent to purchase it.
For this reason, the Korean government has frequently requested increased flights and guarantees of free travel through diplomatic channels.
Stances between Korea and China changed 180 degrees after China declared open borders
Things have changed 180 degrees now.
The beginning was China's sudden declaration of border opening on the 27th of last month.
When China announced domestic quarantine measures on the 7th of last month, it rapidly switched from 'Zero Corona' to 'With Corona'.
Then, 20 days later, it declared that it would abolish even the quarantine of entrants, opening the era of virtually complete 'With Corona'.
The opening of the border was somewhat foreseen when China eased domestic quarantine.
It was just a matter of timing.
However, when China opened its borders, the expressions of other countries were mixed.
Some Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand, were happy.
This is because it has been able to re-accept huge numbers of Chinese tourists.
In Thailand, the Deputy Prime Minister even went to the airport to greet Chinese tourists.
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Japan is the first to announce quarantine measures... South Korea is the strongest
On the other hand, Western countries were concerned.
This is because the number of corona19 infections in China has increased exponentially as the Chinese quarantine authorities have virtually let go.
As hundreds of millions of infected people occurred in a short period of time, concerns about the emergence of new mutations were also raised.
Concerns have spread that entrants from China will come buried with the corona virus.
Japan was the first to announce strengthened quarantine.
As soon as China declares border opening, Japan announced that it would conduct PCR tests on all arrivals from China.
Subsequently, Italy, India, and Taiwan also announced their PCR test policies, and on the 30th of last month, Korea also joined the trend of strengthening quarantine for entrants from China.
However, Korea has gone a step further.
In addition to PCR testing, it came out with restrictions on short-term visa issuance and restrictions on additional flights from China.
Among major countries, Korea was the only country that restricted short-term visa issuance.
This is why China has recently taken retaliatory measures one after another, including restricting visa issuance only against South Korea and Japan.
This is because Japan announced the first measures, and Korea announced the strongest measures.
Chinese social media "Poor quarantine facilities in Korea... Only Chinese have yellow cards"
The situation reversed itself in just two weeks.
Now China is asking South Korea and other countries to end the quarantine.
It is said to guarantee free passage.
On the 24th of last month, the two countries agreed to increase the number of flights from 65 to 100.
China accepted South Korea's request.
However, the agreement was scrapped when Korea said it would not increase flights again.
Recently, in the Chinese media, it is reported that "it is difficult to find a flight from Korea to China and the price has skyrocketed."
Previously, poor quarantine facilities in China have been a problem.
Although each isolation facility was different, complaints broke out among Korean residents that some isolation facilities were messy, had no refrigerators, and poor meals.
Ambassador to China Jeong Jae-ho, who took office in July last year, also demanded a replacement due to poor isolation facilities.
However, claims that Korea's quarantine facilities are poor are now coming up one after another on Chinese social media.
It is said that there are no beds and no hot water in the quarantine facility.
On top of this, Chinese social media is infested with the story that Korean quarantine authorities only allow Chinese people to wear yellow cards around their necks.
The search term 'Korea' rose to the top of the real-time search rankings and recorded over 3 billion views in one day.
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State media "Korea treats Chinese criminals"... spreading feelings of resentment
Most of the claims that South Korea's quarantine facilities were poor were unfounded, and the yellow card was merely a measure to distinguish between short-term and long-term arrivals.
Long-term entrants can go to their residential area and undergo PCR testing, but short-term entrants are classified because most of them do not have a residence and must undergo PCR testing at the airport.
However, even Chinese state media came forward to stir up anti-Korean sentiment.
The Global Times and the Global Times wrote in a joint editorial that "Korea treats Chinese as criminals" and "insulted."
If you check it a little, you will immediately know that the claim of Chinese netizens is false, but it seemed to be intentionally misleading.
These media can be seen as revealing the Chinese government's uncomfortable planting toward Korea in that it has been representing the Chinese government's innermost intentions that it cannot reveal on the outside in terms of diplomacy.
It's not something that China, which once even inspected the anus for Chinese immigrants, is not something to say, but as China is targeting only Korea, the anti-Korean sentiment in China is unusual.
Among Koreans, there are even concerns that a second THAAD incident could occur.
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"Political intentions" between Korea and China... fear of economic damage
The two countries, Korea and China, are talking about political intentions intervening toward each other.
Chinese state media said, "When the COVID-19 situation in the United States and Japan is serious, South Korea does not disclose the corona 19 confirmation rate of entrants from these countries, but only discloses the confirmation rate of entrants from China." claims to be."
"Korea is making a fuss," he says.
It reads as a nuance why it took preemptive measures such as suspending visa issuance, just like other countries.
In a word, it is said that Korea has 'over', which is interpreted as meaning that it is not riding on anti-Chinese sentiment in Korea to raise the approval rating of the Yoon Seok-yeol government.
The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs also opposes that "China should not restrict entry for factors other than quarantine."
China's retaliatory measures, such as the suspension of visa issuance, also have political purposes.
China did not come up with retaliatory measures against the United States, but it is accepted as meaning that it is trying to split Korea, the United States, and Japan, or is not responding emotionally rather than scientifically.
Some analysts say that China is sacrificing Korea in order to turn its dissatisfaction with the domestic Corona 19 explosion to the outside.
What is clear is that the battle over quarantine should not escalate into a game of chicken.
This is because our companies that have entered China, Korean residents, our tourism and duty-free industries, and our economy, which has the largest trade with China, can suffer from the damage.