Korean professor kicks foreign students out for wearing face masks to prevent MERS

It has been reported that a professor at Sungkyunkwan University has kicked foreign students out of lecture for wearing face masks to prevent MERS.

On June 10th, it was revealed that two students from City University of Hong Kong, currently on exchange at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, were scolded and kicked out of the lecture room by a professor for wearing face masks. The exact reason for this reaction by the professor is unknown.

Following the incident, the two students sought help from their university in Hong Kong, which reasoned with Sungkyunkwan University and eventually obtained permission for the students to continue to attend lectures while wearing face masks. However, the two students expressed their desire to leave Korea early to return to Hong Kong.

While this appears to be a one-off incident, one of the exchange students from another university commented, “It seems that only about 25% of the bus commuters would wear the masks, but more people wear them on the streets. There’s been about a 10% increase in mask-wearers on campus, but they are mainly students from Hong Kong.

Citizens of Hong Kong are well aware of the potential disaster that MERS could bring, as they were significantly impacted by another similar, deadly disease, SARS, back in 2003. Due to the latest situation with MERS in Korea, the Hong Kong government increased its travel warning level against the country, urging citizens to avoid going to Korea.

Source: Singtao Daily