Governor Lee Jae-myung Recommends Temporary Closure of Gwacheon Racetrack and Other Facilities

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] The Korea Racing Authority has begun temporary closure of all its facilities, including the racetrack located in Gwacheon. This follows a recommendation from Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung to prevent community spread of COVID-19.

According to the province on the 23rd, the governor determined that temporary closures of multipurpose facilities including the racetrack are necessary to secure the safety of provincial residents and preemptively block the spread of infectious disease, given that the headquarters of Shincheonji is located in Gwacheon.

Accordingly, on the 22nd, the province sent an official notice recommending closure to facilities operated by the Korea Racing Authority, which accepted the recommendation and decided to close on the 23rd.

The Korea Racing Authority will temporarily suspend operations at 36 facilities total, including the Gwacheon, Gyeongju, and Jeju racetracks as well as video racetracks in Suwon, Seongnam, and Bucheon. The decision on whether to implement additional suspension of horse racing will be made after observing the trends of COVID-19 spread going forward.

The Racing Authority plans to intensively implement additional quarantine and disinfection measures at facilities during the temporary suspension period and secure preventive supplies.