The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) is shifting its quarantine system from one focused on preventing infectious disease importation to one centered on traveler health prevention and information provision. This initiative is part of President Lee Jae-myung’s national policy task of ‘Improving the Infectious Disease Crisis Response System’ and aims for full institutionalization by 2027. The KDCA plans to introduce AI-based quarantine systems, provide customized health information for travelers, and strengthen hygiene management for transportation vehicles.
The KDCA will establish an integrated health information platform for travelers called ‘Travel Health Alert e’ by next year. This platform will offer country-specific travel health information, key quarantine management areas, vaccination guidance, and quarantine information all in one place. Enhanced search and consultation functions will improve user convenience. Starting in the second half of next year, health information services will be expanded to outbound travelers, with customized alerts sent via KakaoTalk and text messages to some departing travelers from quarantine management areas.
An AI and data-driven voluntary reporting system for quarantine purposes will also be introduced. An ‘AI Quarantine Officer’ system using AIoT (Artificial Intelligence of Things) will be developed by next year to support quarantine investigations by linking traveler data with overseas infectious disease surveillance information. A multilingual system for foreign travelers to report symptoms conveniently will be piloted at Gimhae Airport in the second half of next year. In addition, a response system linking quarantine facilities with specialized medical institutions will be established to ensure rapid treatment for travelers who develop symptoms after arrival.
The KDCA will also strengthen management of environments where infectious diseases may occur, such as transportation vehicles and vectors. The issuance process for the Ship Sanitation Certificate (SSC), an international standard for ship hygiene management, will be standardized starting next year, and on-site inspection equipment will be introduced. The inspection fee, which is currently low compared to other countries, will be tripled to ensure fairness. The KDCA is also pushing for revisions to the ‘Quarantine Act’ to manage aircraft hygiene at levels similar to ships, with plans to establish response measures for vector-borne diseases via aircraft by 2027.