오늘부터 택시, 버스 탑승시 마스크 착용 의무화...승차 거부도 가능

The weather is getting warmer in South Korea and more and more people are not wearing masks while outside.
To get more people to wear masks, the government has made wearing masks mandatory for people using buses and taxis across the nation.
The law came into affect today, and already, the changes have been noticable.
Kim Sungmin reports.
Starting from Tuesday all passengers in South Korea must wear face masks when taking taxis and buses.
On the first day of enforcement in Gangnam, it was not hard to find people without masks on the street as the weather is getting warmer.
But the scene was different inside buses and taxis.
"I think after making it mandatory to wear a mask, the public's perception has changed. Today, 100 percent of the passengers so far have have been wearing masks."
Now, passengers without a mask can be refused boarding or be asked to get out of buses or taxis.
Not only the drivers but also people who take public transport every day have already noticed the difference that the law is making.
"I commute by public transport and around 90% of people were wearing masks. But with the new law, I haven't seen anyone who was not wearing it."
Along with this measure, the government is taking steps to make it more comfortable to wear masks in hot weather.
The government has also announced it will increase imports of dental masks as experts are now saying that they are safe enough and more suitable in hot weather."
"Compared to dental masks, KF masks are uncomfortable and are hard to breathe through when wearing for a long time. So people are likely to wear dental masks. Also, ordinary people who are not exposed to the risk of direct infection are scientifically proven to be safe enough with dental masks."
The expert added that on public transport, dental masks can significantly lower the chance of infection if an infected person and the people around them are all wearing masks.
Kim Sung-min, Arirang News