With the country set to introduce from May 6 a more relaxed system of "distancing in daily life," the Korea Baseball Organization will open its season on May 5 without fans in the stands, and national cultural facilities including major museums and art galleries will implement partial openings. Shown here is the National Museum of Korea in Seoul in a photo taken in August 2016. (Korea.net DB)
As Korea plans to end social distancing on May 6 and shift to a more relaxed system of "distancing within daily life," certain multi-use facilities will be reopened on a restricted basis.
Sports will lead the way as the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) will start its 2020 season on May 5. The season was scheduled to start on March 28 but was delayed for over a month due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The KBO decided at its fourth board meeting on April 21 in Seoul's Gangnam-gu District to start the season with no fans in the stands. Admission of fans, however, will be gradually allowed depending on the situation.
The KBO All-Star Game, originally slated for July, has been canceled and the playoffs will be shortened from a five-game series to three. The season will comprise 144 regular-season games as usual, but that number could get reduced in stages if players are confirmed to have COVID-19.
In culture, 24 national cultural facilities including the National Museum of Korea, the National Museum of Contemporary Art and the National Library of Korea will partially reopen on May 6 after being closed in February.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on May 1 said cultural facilities will be reopened but with a limited number of visitors. Group tours will be prohibited and visitors must come individually and make online reservations to prevent crowds from forming.
The national library and the National Library for Children and Young Adults will be the nation's first to provide mailing service, and the checking out and returning of books will be exclusively conducted by the National Library of Korea in Sejong. The libraries will expand data services and accept more visitors as the COVID-19 situation gets safer.
Those who wish to visit these cultural facilities should check the available visiting times, the number of visitors based on time slots and reservations via the website of the desired facility or the ministry (www.mcst.go.kr).
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