Thursday, January 20, 2011

FMD means Koreans urged not to travel (or travel to Jeollanam-do) for Lunar New Year.

The Korea Times writes about local governments' efforts to discourage Koreans from travelling around the country this Seollal in order to prevent further spread of foot-and-mouth disease.
Many Koreans who work and live in Seoul and other urban areas were born and raised in the provinces. It is a decades-old tradition that they visit their hometowns to see their parents, relatives and friends at least twice a year ― the Lunar New Year (or Seollal) and Chuseok holidays.

But this biannual ritual may not materialize during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday from Feb. 2 to 6 as the mass migration could cause the spread of foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease and bird flu to uninfected areas.

Since the first FMD outbreak was reported in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, on Nov. 29, the deadly virus has spread to nearly all parts of the country, except for the southern regions ― South Gyeongsang Province, North Jeolla Province, South Jeolla Province and Jeju Island.

. . .
In a desperate attempt to stop the devastating epidemic, scores of provincial governments have launched a campaign to prevent people from traveling to other areas during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Among others, South Jeolla Province, which has seen not a single case of FMD, is asking those who plan to visit there during the five-day holiday not to do so in a bid to stop the spread of the highly infectious virus.

The provincial government has asked dozens of organizations made up of individuals born in the country’s southwestern province not to visit their hometowns.

``If we can prevent FMD from spreading to our area during the upcoming holiday, we are positive that South Jeolla Province will remain FMD-free. It is not easy to say this but we desperately need people who have family members here not to come this time,’’ said Lee Ki-ho, director of the livestock quarantine department at the South Jeolla Provincial Government.

The other 362 days out of the year you couldn't convince many Koreans, or expats for that matter, to visit Jeollanam-do, but as The Waygook Effect says given how little vacation time Koreans take it's unlikely that local officials will discourage Koreans from driving cross-country for one of its biggest holidays.

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