S. Korea to offer info on 'virus-safe' restaurants via Kakao platform

South Korea said Tuesday it has teamed up with the mobile giant Kakao Corp. to provide local consumers with information on restaurants that have strictly followed sanitary guidelines to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

The service offers locations of restaurants that have employees wear protective masks at all times and provide separate utensils for communal dishes and pots, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Kakao operates South Korea's most popular mobile messenger app, KakaoTalk, along with the search engine Daum.

As of last year, 23,467 restaurants nationwide were designated as safe establishments.

Sharing a dish provided simultaneously for a group is common practice in Korean dining culture, but the virus pandemic has made people opt for separate dishes.

The ministry plans to continue to increase the number of businesses that follow the sanitary guideline.

The country launched a similar service with the country's top online portal operator, Naver Corp., last year.

South Korea reported 336 additional new coronavirus cases Tuesday, raising the total caseload to 78,844. (Yonhap)