The South Korean government will partially ease indoor heating restrictions for public institutions that were imposed as part of an energy-saving campaign.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday, a related guideline has been revised to allow the heads of institutions to raise the average temperature from 17 to 19 degrees Celsius during cold wave alerts or inside old buildings with big temperature variations.

The government earlier capped the average indoor temperature inside public institutions at 17 degrees from October 18 to March amid soaring energy prices.

This, however, was met with concerns over the health of workers as well as the potential for reduced productivity.