Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Wednesday that South Korea will temporarily suspend visa waiver programs for countries imposing entry bans on Koreans over COVID-19.

In a pan-government meeting in Sejong City, the prime minister also said the government will expand entry restrictions on foreigners traveling without essential purposes.

Chung announced the strengthened move, noting that imported cases of the virus account for nearly half of the country's daily new infections recently. 

The prime minister said that although the nation has been imposing a mandatory two-week quarantine on all international arrivals since April 1, it’s burdensome for the government to deal with more than five-thousand people entering the country every day. 

Chung said that the government will discuss more active measures to deal with the rising influx of virus cases from overseas. He added that the government will strengthen restrictions in accordance with reciprocity, while maintaining the basic principle of openness.