Seoul official calls Japan’s reaction to coronavirus ‘political’

The chief of South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service described the Japanese government’s handling of the novel coronavirus crisis as “political,” with the upcoming Tokyo Olympics at stake.

Kim Yong-ik, president of the NHIS, said the number of infections in the neighboring country could be much higher than reported and that Japan is “not testing enough.”

“If a country does not test and diagnose, COVID-19 will be passed over as a cold, and severe symptoms will be passed over as (unrelated) pneumonia,” he said Tuesday during a live broadcast on YouTube hosted by Rhyu Si-min, a liberal politician who once served as health minister. 

Japan is making a “political decision” due to the Olympics this summer, he added.

The country’s approach to COVID-19 screening stands in sharp contrast with that of Korea, which has tested 131,379 people and identified over 5,600 infections so far. 

The Nikkei business daily reported Monday that Japan had tested about 900 people a day on average, while Korea has tested over 10,000 people every day in the interest of early detection and containment of the virus.

The number of coronavirus infections in Japan topped 1,000 on Wednesday, including 706 people who were aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was quarantined near Tokyo. The death toll in Japan stands at 12, whereas Korea has reported over 5,600 confirmed cases and 33 deaths. 

There is growing concern that an outbreak of the deadly virus could derail the country’s plans to host the Olympics.

Tokyo and the International Olympic Committee said recently that current plans were for the games to take place as planned. 

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)