SEOUL, South Korea AP — The South Korean capital on Friday withdrew its mandate that all foreign workers in the city be tested for the coronavirus — an order that had caused huge lines at testing centers and prompted accusations of discrimination. The city will still recommend tests for foreigners employed at workplaces that are at risk of spreading infections, such as bars and small factories, said Lee Hae-seon, an official from the Seoul metropolitan government. Lee Yong-ho, a spokesperson from the Gyeonggi provincial government, said it has no plans to withdraw its testing order on foreigners, which lasts through Monday. Lone lines had snaked around designated testing stations in Seoul after the city on Wednesday began necessitating tests for all foreign nationals employed in the city, regardless of their visa status or recent travel history. Seoul had around , registered foreigners at the end of but city officials had no estimate of how many were under the test mandate.


South Korea’s capital scraps testing mandate on foreigners



Foreigners in South Korea
Racism in South Korea has been recognized by scholars and the United Nations as a widespread social problem. An increase in immigration to South Korea since the s catalyzed more overt expressions of racism , as well as criticism of those expressions. Racist attitudes are more commonly expressed towards immigrants from other Asian countries and Africa, and less so towards European and white North American immigrants who can occasionally receive what has been described as "overly kind treatment". The reason given by Korean students is because of their classmates' different skin colors Korean children also show a tendency to discriminate against Africans and people of African descent. In a research by Education Research International, Korean children show negative responses to darker-skin characters in picture book illustrations.


South Korean province orders COVID testing for foreigners, sparking complaints of xenophobia
SEOUL, South Korea -- The South Korean capital on Friday withdrew its mandate that all foreign workers in the city be tested for the coronavirus — an order that had caused huge lines at testing centers and prompted accusations of discrimination. The city will still recommend tests for foreigners employed at workplaces that are at risk of spreading infections, such as bars and small factories, said Lee Hae-seon, an official from the Seoul metropolitan government. Lee Yong-ho, a spokesperson from the Gyeonggi provincial government, said it has no plans to withdraw its testing order on foreigners, which lasts through Monday. Lone lines had snaked around designated testing stations in Seoul after the city on Wednesday began necessitating tests for all foreign nationals employed in the city, regardless of their visa status or recent travel history. Seoul had around , registered foreigners at the end of but city officials had no estimate of how many were under the test mandate.


It came after at least foreigners tested positive for Covid in the province, with a number of outbreaks reported at manufacturing plants. The order is expected to impact roughly 85, registered foreigners and potentially many more undocumented workers, provoking a chaotic rush from people trying to get their tests done. The queues stretched for about metres from a Covid testing centre in the city of Ansan on Monday as thousands of people lined up. A health worker at the temporary Covid testing centre said he is not allowed to speak to the media but that they are conducting an average of 1, tests a day following the order. Some , foreigners had been tested till Sunday, with people testing positive, a provincial official told Reuters.