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| People wait in line outside a post office in Namyangjoo, Gyeonggi Province, to buy masks, Monday. /Yonhap |
By Kim Se-jeong
The government is planning to use convenience stores to sell protective masks ― which are in high demand amid the new coronavirus outbreak.
While a detailed plan was not available Monday, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said a continued shortage of masks despite government intervention had moved it to consider utilizing convenience stores.
On Feb. 26, the government announced the decision to have mask producers distribute their masks to 2,200 of Nonghyup Bank's Hanaro Marts, 1,406 post offices and 24,000 pharmacies across the country for just under 1,000 won per mask. Pharmacies receiving the masks are located in big cities such as Seoul, while the Hanaro Marts and post offices are in Daegu, Cheongdo in North Gyeongsang Province and other small counties in other parts of the country. The daily production capacity of Korea's local mask manufacturers is 13 million.
Despite these initiatives, a mask shortage continued over the weekend as deliveries were delayed for many outlets. The masks were not available for sale at post offices until Monday morning.
On Saturday, President Moon Jae-in pushed government officials to quickly solve the delay. "Find all solutions to the mask problem. Government workers need to go out in to the field to see if the masks are really arriving and to solve any problems," he said during a meeting.
Convenience stores are especially widespread in cities, and expected to provide a more effective solution to the shortage. In Seoul, Monday, there were lines of people waiting outside pharmacies to buy the masks, with a limit of five per person.
The government had initially considered convenience stores as an emergency outlet for mask sales, but ruled them out for reasons unknown. Convenience store owners this week welcomed the idea of being a temporary outlet for mask sales.
The mask shortage over the weekend gave the government no choice but to force local schools to hand over their stocks of the in-demand item. On Sunday, the Ministry of Education said it had told schools across the country to give up 5.8 million masks.
The military said it will dispatch its staff to production lines, and to deliver the masks to the outlets to meet deadlines.
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