Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
KDCA head hospitalized over shoulder fracture
By Kim Rahn
Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong gives a press briefing on COVID-19 at the agency headquarters in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Nov. 23. / Yonhap
By Kim Rahn
The nation's top quarantine official has fractured her shoulder and been hospitalized, according to reports, Thursday.
Jeong Eun-kyeong, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), sustained the injury after falling from her bed and was hospitalized at a general hospital in North Chungcheong Province, Tuesday.
The injury was not grave, but the hospital recommended she stay there for up to a week, according to media reports.
The KDCA confirmed that Jeong is taking sick leave until the end of this week, but did not confirm the shoulder injury, citing privacy.
Jeong, who has led the nation's antivirus efforts since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, has gained public trust for her candid communication with the people through transparent updates on the virus situation in daily media briefings.
She was appointed the inaugural head of the KDCA when it was launched in September after the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was given upgraded status to bolster national response to the pandemic. For her role, Jeong was included in Time magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people of 2020 in September.