With the government dropping remaining quarantine measures in the wake of the subsiding COVID-19 wave, health authorities have mentioned, for the first time, that the indoor mask mandate may be lifted in or around March of next year.

Lee Ki-il, the second vice minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, made the remarks during an interview with KBS News that aired on Sunday.

When asked whether the nation could return to life without masks next spring, Lee responded that the indoor mask mandate could be lifted by next March as he expects the COVID-19 pandemic to be over by then.

The vice minister stressed that a return to normalcy is not far, saying that where there is a beginning, there is an end.