South Korean president says epidemic isn't over 'until it's over' after cases rise


South Korean President Moon Jae-in channeled Yogi Berra on Sunday, though the circumstances were much more grim.
After the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday reported 34 new coronavirus infections — the country's highest daily rise since April 9 — Moon warned about the risk of a second wave of COVID-19 later this year. "It's not over until it's over," he said of the coronavirus epidemic.
Moon said the new cluster, which emerged after a man who eventually tested positive visited multiple recently reopened night clubs in Seoul, shows how quickly the disease can spread. South Korea has drawn praise for how it has largely curbed the outbreak, but the latest development shows how difficult reopening can be, and Seoul's bars and clubs were quickly ordered shut once again.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
South Korea isn't alone — new infections continued to accelerate in Germany, which has also started to open things up slowly after responding to the initial outbreak relatively successfully, and China, where the virus originated, has reported what could be the beginning of a second wave of cases in the country's northeastern Jilin province.
Despite the rise in cases, South Korea has been able to trace most of them to the specific night clubs, highlighting its ability to track new infections, which could prove crucial in keeping a second wave far below the first one. Read more at The Wall Street Journal and Reuters.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
June 28 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include stupid wars, a critical media, and mask standards
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Palestine Action: protesters or terrorists?
Talking Point Damaging RAF equipment at Brize Norton blurs line between activism and sabotage, but proscription is a drastic step
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from