South Korea offers undocumented foreigners free virus test with no risk of deportation
Graphic by Kim Bo-kyung
By Park Si-soo
South Korea is offering undocumented foreigners a coronavirus test free of charge and with no risk of apprehension and deportation, according to a text message on Thursday.
In the Korean message delivered to millions of mobile phone subscribers across the country, the Ministry of Health and Welfare urged undocumented foreigners with virus symptoms to contact a public health office and arrange a test.
It noted the test would be free and their identities secure so they would face no risk of apprehension and deportation.
Here is the full text of the message:
“[Ministry of Health and Welfare] Undocumented foreign workers with suspicious symptoms can take a coronavirus test free of charge, with no risk of deportation. Please feel free to contact a local health office if this is your case and share this information with your undocumented foreign friends, if any.”