오늘부터 고위험시설 ‘QR 코드' 스캔 의무화...노인이나 외국인에 특히 쉽지 않아<br /><br />South Korea began requiring nightclubs, singing rooms and gyms to register their customers with smartphone QR codes starting today so they could be easily located when needed.<br />The nationwide requirement of QR codes at these "high-risk" venues come after a weeklong trial run in the cities of Seoul, Incheon and Daejeon.<br />As our Lee Kyung-eun reports, the government is also encouraging churches, libraries, hospitals and movie theaters to voluntarily adopt the technology.<br />Nightclubs. Singing rooms. Pubs. Indoor table tennis rooms.<br />These places have been at the center of recent COVID-19 cluster infections in South Korea.<br />From Wednesday, the health ministry will be keeping track of visitors to these venues using QR codes or "quick response codes."<br />First, you have to sign up on the Naver app.<br />There, you click "QR code check in", where you need to verify your phone number.<br />An instant QR code pops up which will last for 15 seconds.<br />In that square matrix barcode, your name, phone number, and the time you enter the place are automatically recorded.<br />The venue will then scan the code and send the data for internet storage.<br />Due to privacy concerns, the information will be divided between the QR code provider and a public institution, and will only be recombined for contact tracing during outbreaks.<br />All data will be deleted after four weeks.<br />"I had to download the app for the first time,... but the system is managed safely by the government so it's trustworthy."<br />"Visitors can still write down their information on paper if they want.<br />The government has kept this option for senior citizens who are not used to using smartphone apps and for those foreigners who do not have Korean phone numbers."<br />During the previous one-week test run, the health ministry had announced that this digital entry log would be mandatory for places with a high risk of infection, including bars, nightclubs, singing rooms, and indoor fitness centers.<br />But on the first day of its official implementation, private academies have been added to the list.<br />Other venues like churches and movie theaters are also advised to use the platform.<br />There will be a grace period until the end of the month, after which any business that does not comply with the policy could be fined roughly 25-hundred U.S. dollars.<br />Lee Kyung-eun, Arirang News.<br />
