Mobile phones are installed at a restaurant in central Seoul on Dec. 13, 2021, to check visitors’ COVID-19 vaccine pass through a quick-response (QR) code service. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — A restaurant that unveiled plans to offer free meals to unvaccinated customers has drawn mixed responses from online commenters in South Korea.
A restaurant specializing in abalone located in western Seoul uploaded a post through its official Instagram account saying that it would provide an additional abalone for free if unvaccinated customers place take-out orders, as a way to express its sympathy and help cheer them up.
In the photo of the restaurant’s entrance that was posted together with the text, there was a sign saying, “The unvaccinated are not virus carriers.”
The post included hashtags such as ‘opposition to COVID-19 vaccine pass,’ ‘opposition to vaccine pass for teenagers,’ and ‘South Korea is a free democracy.’
After the post was shared on various online communities, some supported the restaurant, writing comments such as, ‘We support you and wish you to be prosperous,’ ‘Wish you to be showered with money,’ and ‘We will visit you no matter what.’
However, on a portal site’s review section for the restaurant, a number of critical one-star reviews had been posted.
Some online commentators expressed negative opinions such as, ‘Only unvaccinated people should use the restaurant,’ ‘Vaccine rejection damages society,’ and ‘So selfish.’
Due to the government’s vaccine pass policy, unvaccinated people are limited from using multi-use facilities and are only allowed to visit restaurants and cafes alone if they have proof of a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
