The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) is set to expand its quarantine system, which was previously focused on blocking the entry of infectious diseases, to one centered on traveler health prevention and information provision. On the 17th, the KDCA announced the ‘Traveler Health-Centered Quarantine System Establishment Plan,’ which includes the phased introduction of an AI-based quarantine system, provision of customized health information for travelers, and strengthening of hygiene management for transportation.
This initiative aims to implement the ‘Improvement of Infectious Disease Crisis Response System,’ a national task of the Lee Jae-myung administration, with the goal of institutionalization by 2027. The KDCA’s mission is to establish a quarantine system that protects public health from infectious disease risks, providing prevention and information during normal times and rapid response during crises, to address the risks associated with increased international travel.
To this end, the KDCA will transition projects that have proven effective in pilot programs to full-scale projects, enhancing prevention-focused policies such as public information provision, service linkage, and hygiene management for transportation. The KDCA will first establish the ‘Travel Health Alert e’ platform by next year, which will provide integrated health information needed before, during, and after travel. By referencing cases from overseas disease control agencies, the platform will allow users to check country-specific travel health information, key quarantine management areas, vaccinations, and quarantine information on one site, with enhanced search and traveler consultation functions for convenience.
The KDCA will also introduce a traveler-friendly quarantine system utilizing AI and data. Through the public AX project, the ‘AI Quarantine Officer’ system, which includes AIoT (Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things) quarantine inspection stations, will be developed by next year to support quarantine investigations by linking entrant data with overseas infectious disease surveillance information. A multilingual system will be applied to allow foreigners to easily report symptoms, with pilot operations at Gimhae Airport starting in the second half of next year.