Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said the government has nothing to take responsibility for regarding South Korea's securing of COVID-19 vaccines, which is coming relatively later than other countries.

At an emergency parliamentary inquiry on Friday, Chung said the assessment of the government's response should be based on how quickly it led the nation to overcome the pandemic, not on how early vaccinations begin.

The prime minister said the immunizations could possibly start in the second half of February.

The remarks come as there has been criticism over the government's passivity towards purchasing the vaccines from global pharmaceutical companies.

Regarding a cluster at a detention center in eastern Seoul, Chung apologized to the public for failing to promptly contain the virus at the state facility, before vowing to prevent further spread.