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A notice outside the funeral parlor of Samsung Medical Center in Seoul saying that a confirmed COVID-19 case has resulted in admission to the hospital being restricted for disease prevention purposes on Nov. 4. (Yonhap News)

Political figures are growing increasingly alarmed amid reports on Nov. 4 that an individual subsequently diagnosed with COVID-19 was present at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul during the funeral of former Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee.

On Nov. 4, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) issued an emergency alert requesting that “reports and visitors who were present in the first-floor lobby and outside the entrance of the Samsung Medical Center funeral parlor in Seoul’s Gangnam District on Oct. 26 should visit a nearby screening center for testing.”

The reason had to do with a reporter covering Lee’s wake who subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. This effectively means that political and government figures who answered questions from reporters at the time have been classified as “close contacts” with the reporter in question.

The news prompted an urgent response in the political world on Nov. 4, with figures cancelling their schedules in accordance with KDCA guidelines. Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong, who visited Lee’s wake on the date in question, announced that he would be postponing all scheduled events for the time being and self-quarantining. Won entered self-quarantine after undergoing testing with an employee of Jeju Province’s Seoul office who also visited Lee’s wake.

People’s Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo, who visited the wake the same day, also underwent COVID-19 testing and entered self-quarantine in accordance with KDCA guidelines. The People’s Party has decided to cancel a meeting of its supreme council that had been scheduled for the morning of Nov. 5.

Administration figures were similarly impacted. Kim Hyun-chong, second deputy director of the Blue House National Security Office (NSO), attended a parliamentary audit with the National Assembly Steering Committee that morning, before leaving to undergo testing according to KDCA guidelines. When asked by People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sung-won whether Kim had been in close contact with President Moon Jae-in, Presidential Chief of Staff Noh Young-min replied, “Mr. Kim has not given an up-close in-person briefing to the president [since Oct. 26]. He appears to have remained at a distance of five meters or more.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki attended a meeting of the National Assembly Special Committee on Budget and Accounts for a budget review that morning, before undergoing COVID-19 testing around 1 pm and entering self-quarantine. Other administration figures who were reportedly tested on Nov. 4 after visiting Samsung Medical Center on the day in question included Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo and Fair Trade Commission Chair Joh Sung-wook.

By Noh Hyun-woong, staff reporter

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