Anchor: The government on Monday enforced eased social distancing rules, following the Lunar New Year long weekend. Though it eased the rules, the government stressed that it’s too early to be relieved, citing that the number of daily COVID-19 cases remained in the 300s for the third straight day. 
Our Bae Joo-yon has more. 

Report: From Monday, the government began applying Level Two, the third-highest in the country's five-tier social distancing scheme, for the Seoul metro area and Level One-point-Five for the rest of the country. The eased rules will be in place until the end of this month.

The ban on private gatherings of five people or more will remain in place, although gatherings consisting of immediate family are now exempted. 

The 9 p.m. business restriction on restaurants and cafes in the capital region has been extended to 10 p.m. 

Movie theaters, internet cafes, private educational institutes, large supermarkets, theme parks and hair salons nationwide will no longer have restrictions on their hours of operation.

In line with the eased rules, the Defense Ministry lowered its social distancing rules by one notch to Level Two, allowing vacations for soldiers from Monday. 

The move comes 80 days after the military banned vacations for all units on November 27 amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. 

Also starting Monday night, the Seoul city government will ease restrictions on the nighttime operation of public transportation.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, operations of buses and subways in the city will be reduced up to 20 percent after 10:00 p.m., instead of 30 percent after 9:00 p.m.

The government underlined on Monday that though rules have been eased, it’s too early to breathe a sigh of relief. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said the average number of cases during the four-day holiday reached 375 and that 79 percent of cases came from the Seoul metro area.

The agency urged the public to continue to abide by quarantine regulations, saying there are concerns that the nation could see a surge in cases given that travel among regions had increased during the holidays. 

Meanwhile, South Korea reported its first COVID-19 death involving a patient in their 20s last Friday. Busan City said the patient died one day after testing positive for the virus, and the deceased is presumed to have died of acute pneumonia.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.