The government will lift most outdoor mask mandates for people who have received at least one dose of a vaccine from July, but will require them to wear masks again if highly ​transmissible COVID-19 variants spread in the country.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said on Tuesday that the government could be forced to require masks outdoors again, citing that virus risks will naturally increase as the new social distancing system takes effect next month.  

Kim also noted that the Delta variant is rapidly spreading across the world, with countries with the highest vaccination rates witnessing surges in new infections and tightening their quarantine measures again. 

The prime minister stressed that South Korea cannot be an exception in the resurgence without thorough enforcement of quarantine measures.