Throughout South Korea’s struggle with coronavirus, Everland, the country's most popular theme park, never closed its doors.
To close or not to close was the question that haunted Minjung Ko, who oversees the park’s safety and technology, since late January when the nation’s first coronavirus case surfaced.
“It’s still scary, and despite the country’s access to testing and intensive tracking systems, the only solution until we have a vaccine is to continue making sure that we do not revert to old habits while having fun,” said Ko.The park’s decision to stay open was never barred by the government, explained Lee Sunju, who serves as the Senior Deputy Director of the Central Disaster Management Headquarters.
“We never issued a mandate requiring parks to close,” Lee said. “This was because we decided that if facilities maintained hygiene and followed social distancing rules, a complete shutdown wouldn’t be necessary unless someone at the facility tested positive.” With the exception of state-run facilities like libraries and national museums as well as adult entertainment establishments that were temporarily shut down in March, the decision to stay open has for the most part been in the hands of businesses.
An “operate at your own risk” system is in place — one that trusts people to follow rules, but if broken, can result in fines as high as 3,000,000 KRW which is the equivalent to about $2,500.As people’s energy began to wane at sunset, couples and families retreated into the shade, pulling their sweat-drenched masks down to their chin to take in a few gulps of cool air.
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