1/ I thought I'd write about my experience re-entering South Korea, where I reside, during this global pandemic. It wasn't a 5 minute job like in London Heathrow where I was out in no time. Instead, it took 24 hours. Here's what happened:
2/ During flight, needed to fill out multiple forms incl. quarantine papers. Upon arrival in Incheon, immediate body temperature scan. As I was coming from the UK, quarantine official already had my name on list of a handful of people from hotspot UK/South Africa. Given lanyard.
3/ Next, I was told to throw away my KF-94 mask that I was wearing, replace it with their own even tighter twin strap 3M KF-95 mask, and made to wait to get tested for Covid-19 even though I already had a negative certificate. Test was carried out on the freezing windy tarmac.
4/ We were then taken to another waiting area with separate seating. Made to fill out more papers.
5/ Then went through immigration. Made to install quarantine app on phone, which includes entering passport number and valid telephone number. An official then called the phone number entered on the app to check it was real. More on app later. Violators of rules face deportation.
6/ Once through immigration, where they *also* checked my negative PCR test already done 2 days in the UK, we were escorted to collect our luggage. At all times, all officials were in full PPE.
7/ Next, we were escorted to a bus provided by emergency services.
8/ Arriving at the Incheon National Quarantine Facility Station, we were escorted to a waiting area, given a separate booth each, told to wait until test results came out at least 6 hours later.
9/ Aside from eating, masks to be worn at all times. Given dinner box a few hours later. Wasn't quite the countdown to 2021 I was expecting but people exclaimed happy new year at midnight.
10/ Towards 2 AM (9 hours later approx), people started receiving text messages saying their test results were negative. In fact, an official said that all those in the room were negative, but that some people incl. me had to have swabs re-examined (because from UK?).
11/ About five of us were then taken downstairs towards 4 AM, and isolated into individual negative pressure rooms (that basically prevent any potential virus from escaping, constantly sucking the air inside). Not a hotel, but can't complain.
12/ PPE dude comes in to check my temperature, and told me to wait another 10 hours until results come out. Finally some sleep after 36 hours.
13/ Breakfast was delivered at towards 7:30 AM on the table between the doors of the chamber. On the menu: egg mayo ham toast and diet banana milk. Actually my favourites!
14/ Then lunch arrived at midday, this dosirak lunchbox, again, delivered between the doors.
15/ Finally got the all clear negative result after lunch, told to wait for the nurse to come collect me. Given gloves, and made our way out back into a bus provided by emergency services. Escorted back to airport.
16/ Police were waiting for us at the airport, took the register of all those who had left quarantine, then brought us back into the airport in order to make arrangements to go back home for self-isolation. Assigned a taxi.
17/ Not just any taxi, a "quarantine taxi" separating the driver from passenger. Taken to doorstep. Cost 80,000 won, but little other choice (there's a "bus" service which is cheaper, but was not available and is less frequent).
From touchdown to home took well over 24 hours.
18/ Finally at home, was made to call local health centre to explain I had arrived and had already been tested. Those who are less at risk can leave airport and get tested in their local areas. Different people, different circumstances, different requirements.
19/ Regarding the quarantine app, need to diagnose oneself and enter results daily. I've heard stories of officials chasing you over the phone if you fail to enter data. Meanwhile, I'm stuck at home for 14 days. Cannot leave under any circumstance. Food/grocery deliveries fine.
20/ A reason for writing this thread is because I was appalled by the level of incompetence in the UK when I flew in a few weeks ago. Coming from "safe zone" S. Korea, I didn't need to self-isolate. Yet the flight back to the UK via Dubai was packed with maskless passengers.
21/ At Heathrow Airport, masses of people were all over the place without masks, *including* airport staff. Those who were wearing masks had them under their noses. Baggage collection was messy and a massive virus hazard. Felt vulnerable.
22/ 24 hours to get back home in S. Korea, even though a resident, were a little annoying given the lack of sleep etc, but I can't complain. It's necessary process to fight this virus.
Yet I see so many people and governments who are still clueless, namely the UK.
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1/ UPDATE: South Korea's spy agency has finally broken its silence on the massive government hack revealed in @phrack magazine over the summer. After two months, the NIS confirms hackers had systematic access to Seoul's digital backbone for nearly three years.
2/ Hackers used six stolen government encryption certificates and six IP addresses to maintain access from September 2022 to July 2025. They penetrated the G-VPN remote work system used by all ministries, giving them a backdoor into Seoul's most sensitive systems.
3/ Access extended beyond the Onnara system to individual ministry systems. The NIS found "inadequate authentication systems in government remote access" and "exposed authentication logic" that enabled the systematic penetration across multiple agencies.
1/ A South Korean student tortured to death in Cambodia by scammers has triggered a full diplomatic crisis. Seoul is launching an unprecedented government response as the scale of kidnapping operations targeting Koreans becomes clear. theguardian.com/world/2025/oct…
2/ Park Min-ho, 22, left his home on 17 July, reportedly telling his family he was going to attend an overseas expo in Cambodia. A week later, his family received a ransom call demanding 50 million won, with the caller claiming Park had "caused trouble". yna.co.kr/view/AKR202510…
3/ Contact ceased after several days, and two weeks later, his body was found near Bokor Mountain in Kampot Province, an area known for crime compounds and human trafficking. cambojanews.com/scams-human-tr…
1/ BREAKING: Han Hak-ja, 82-year-old leader of the Unification Church, has been indicted on charges including bribery, embezzlement and evidence tampering linked to former first lady Kim Keon Hee and the ruling People Power Party.
2/ Key charges: Han and her former secretary Jung Won-ju conspired with church official Yun Young-ho to deliver 100 million won cash to lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong in January 2022, prosecutors say.
1/ LATEST: S. Korea data centre fire catastrophe. Two weeks on, the scale is still staggering. 858TB of government work files permanently lost with no backup. A government official has died. Gov admitted they miscounted affected systems by 62. Only 27% of systems restored.
2/ The G-Drive catastrophe: 858TB of civil servants' work files completely destroyed. Cloud storage system had no backup because officials said there were "too many small files to backup in real time". Some backup disks existed but burned in the same room. biz.chosun.com/topics/topics_…
3/ Some ministries actively encouraged staff to use G-Drive as their primary storage system. Civil servants are now facing years of work simply vanished. One official said all their work files are gone and they're experiencing a complete mental breakdown. biz.chosun.com/topics/topics_…
1/ Is Chosun Ilbo becoming a MAGA mouthpiece? Today, South Korea's biggest conservative paper made its top headline an essay deifying Charlie Kirk, complete with warnings about "radical-left dictatorships", framing the US-ROK alliance through shared Christian faith.
2/ The article reads more like a sermon. It casts Kirk as a Christian martyr, warns that leftists "turn democracy into dictatorship", and folds Korea's liberal government, birth rate crisis and immigration policy into the same global "radical left" threat. chosun.com/politics/2025/…
3/ It describes his Seoul visit as his "Asian debut," praising him for urging Koreans to "fight left-wing lies" and "have many children". The US-ROK alliance is presented not just politically but as rooted in shared Judeo-Christian civilisation.
1/ The far-right anti-China hate protest I witnessed today in Seoul represents a dangerous spillover of what's been simmering in South Korea since Yoon's failed martial law. This isn't fringe anymore. It's metastasising into something broader, younger, and deeply alarming.
2/ Thousands gathered in the streets of Seoul today, singing racist chants to the effect of "chinks get the fuck out" and "Yoon is our president", waving "We are Charlie Kirk" balloons, massive "Stop the Steal" flags, US flags, "Korea for Koreans" slogans, and Christian symbols.
3/ What's significant here: this isn't just the old 태극기부대 and co anymore. Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon was literally doing his own rally today, separately. That's the OLD far-right. What we are seeing now is younger, far more vicious, organised around imported MAGA aesthetics.