Starting from next week, travelers arriving from Vietnam will be subject to a seven-day quarantine upon entry, regardless of their vaccination status, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the Southeast Asian country.

The government announced on Monday that from next Friday, travelers from Vietnam as well as Ukraine and Myanmar will be excluded from the quarantine exemption for fully vaccinated overseas travelers which went into effect earlier in the day.

Currently, travelers arriving from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Myanmar are excluded from such exemption.

All flights entering the nation from Vietnam must keep their occupancy rate at 60 percent or below.

The government’s decision has drawn complaints from the Korean community in Vietnam and has led many to cancel their flights to South Korea.

According to foreign ministry data, the number of South Koreans residing in Vietnam amounted to some 156-thousand last year, comprising the fourth-largest foreign community in Vietnam after Americans, Japanese and Chinese. There are also some nine-thousand South Korean companies operating in the Southeast Asian country.