President Moon Jae-in has defended the government’s decision to ease social distancing rules, attributing the move to the country's success in fighting the pandemic.

Moon made the remarks in a meeting with his chief secretaries on Monday and vowed to achieve further progress so that quarantine rules can continue to be eased. 

He said the Level One social distancing regime was put in place based on confidence in controlling COVID-19 infection levels and also took into account growing economic difficulties and public fatigue.

Pointing to a worsening resurgence in many parts of the world, Moon said South Korea is mounting an “exceptional” defense and praised the public for making it possible through its active cooperation. 

The president said the most heart-wrenching aspect of the virus for him was seeing the public suffer from economic pain and hoped the readjustment of quarantine rules will help boost the economy and public morale. 

However, he cautioned against complacency, pointing to resurgences in infection levels seen so far, and called for a continued adherence to quarantine rules.