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Social distancing measures have come to an end in Korea as of Monday, and disease control authorities have revealed that they’re discussing whether to lift the outdoor masking mandate in two weeks’ time. Reactions among the public are mixed, with many who have noticed the pros of masking for the past two years expressing their intention to keep on wearing masks even after the requirement has been dropped.

Many who said they would keep on masking stated health as their primary concern. A 26-year-old surnamed Jeong who is preparing to take a civil-service examination said on Sunday, “Though [disease control authorities] say they are considering no longer requiring outdoor masking, I’m still afraid of getting infected with COVID-19. I plan to continue masking outdoors.”

Hwang Woo-rim (62) also said, “I tend to get sick easily, but perhaps because I’ve been masking, I haven’t caught a cold in the past two years. I’m going to keep masking as much as possible.”

Some also said masking freed them from the societal pressure of having to wear makeup and maintain control of their facial expression at work.

A 25-year-old worker surnamed Kang stated that they “haven’t been wearing makeup because [they] could hide their face behind masks,” saying they would continue to mask in order to break free from society’s pressure on people to wear makeup.

A 33-year-old small-business owner surnamed Nah said they would keep masking as well, stating, “Having masked for more than two years, I’ve gotten used to masking like outerwear. I service people outdoors, and I don’t have to care so much about my expression while serving customers, so I was able to prevent wasting unnecessary energy.”

Meanwhile, others said they looked forward to masking no longer being required, citing reasons like warm weather. Hong Jun-pyo, a 37-year-old office worker, said, “The weather is getting hotter by the day, and masking is so suffocating. I hope the masking requirement is dropped before mid-summer.”

Jeong Jin-a (33) also said, “People take off their masks when eating and drinking coffee indoors anyway, so I wonder if masking outdoors would really help with disease control. If the outdoor masking requirement is lifted, I want to work out outdoors.”

By Yi Ju-been, staff reporter; Ko Byung-chan, staff reporter

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