Tourists wearing masks visit an ancient palace in central Seoul on Jan. 28, 2020, amid growing concerns over the spread of the new deadly coronavirus that originated in China. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreigners who have been inconvenienced in terms of information related to new coronavirus infections will be provided with better service through interpretation.
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), in cooperation with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), will support translation services for foreign language inquiries with the “1339 Call Center” for foreigners living in the country and foreign tourists.
The 1339 telephone call center has been operated in Korean only, making it difficult for foreigners to get reliable information.
In light of this shortcoming, the KTO transferred foreign visitors calling the 1339 hotline to its own 1330 tourist information call center.
If a foreigner calls the KCDC at 1339, he or she can use the information service by pressing the number four to be directed to the new foreign language guide.
Then three parties, including the foreigner, a 1330 hotline operator, and a 1339 hotline operator can have a three-way call.
The 1330 hotline has a total of eight three-way translation service languages, including Japanese and Russian, and among them Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese will be offered 24 hours a day.
D. M. Park (dmpark@koreabizwire.com)
