Both live in South Korea. Both got their COVID-19 vaccinations in July when they were overseas – one in the United States, and the other in France.
Both had to go through quarantine when they returned to Korea, but the authorities accepted the ‘fully vaccinated’ status of only one of them, which meant that while that person was allowed to go to high-risk venues like clubs and bars, and avoid future quarantines, the other found their daily life severely restricted.
The first is a South Korean citizen and the other a foreigner.
“It feels like it’s kind of unfair and in some way discrimination,” said Laurane Batany, a French national who arrived in Korea recently and was vaccinated in her home country in July.
And her Korean counterpart agrees.
“I cannot find or understand any rational reason to treat foreign residents differently from Koreans for exactly the same certificate. It’s as if they think foreigners are more likely to lie. It’s a disgrace and clear discrimination,” Choi Il-woo said, a Korean national who was vaccinated in the US in July.
Vaccine recognition is crucial in a South Korea that this month revised pandemic-related restrictions under a policy of what it calls “living with COVID-19”.
The new rules include a COVID-19 pass that allows the fully-vaccinated entry to facilities such as night clubs, bars, gyms, and sport venues. This is the pass – an app called COOV – from which foreigners vaccinated outside Korea are excluded.
Korean officials have raised concerns about the credibility of vaccinations done beyond its borders and require that foreigners go to the Korean consulate in the country where they have been vaccinated to get a “quarantine waiver” before they can enter South Korea. That exemption means their vaccine can be registered in the COOV app.
“As there is difficulty in verifying the authenticity of a vaccination certificate issued from abroad, a vaccination certificate issued from abroad is recognised by the Korean government only when a quarantine exemption issued from diplomatic offices of Korea overseas is submitted in the case of a foreign citizen,” said a statement from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency that was given to international journalists.
South Korea also has a list of 16 countries, including Myanmar, South Africa and Chile, from which no quarantine exemption is even possible.