Online-only classes will be extended by a week for kindergartens, primary and secondary schools in the greater Seoul area amid a prolonging resurgence of COVID-19 in that region. 

The Education Ministry unveiled the plan on Friday after the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced a decision to extend strengthened social-distancing measures in Seoul and its surrounding areas by a week until September 13. 

Schools in the capital region, which returned to online classes on August 26 amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, were initially scheduled to lift the partial shutdown on September 14. But under the new measure, they will reopen on September 21. 

High school seniors who were not subject to the remote only classes given their need to prepare for the state-administered university exam will remain unaffected by the decision.