South Korea Vows to Eliminate Bedbugs Once More

South Korea is enhancing pest control measures and inspections to prevent the spread of bedbugs after suspected infestations were reported at some saunas and residential facilities on Nov. 8, according to officials.

The small, flat oval insects have caused alarm in France, where outbreaks on trains and in cinemas have raised concerns about the impact on tourism and the Paris Olympics. There has been a surge in pest inquiries in Britain as well.

In South Korea, about 30 cases of suspected infestations have been reported nationwide, including one at a traditional Korean spa called “jjimjilbang” in Incheon and a college dorm in the southeastern city of Daegu, officials said.

The prime minister’s office on Nov. 7 launched a four-week campaign with inspections of public facilities and pest control measures.

Bedbugs primarily feed on human blood and are named after the unpleasant odor they emit. They tend to hide in the crevices of mattresses, clothing, and furniture, and reproduce rapidly.

Bites from bedbugs can cause large, itchy, flaky bumps on the skin. More than 40 pathogens have been detected in bedbugs. The Emergence in South Korea Bedbugs have been present in South Korea since mid-October.

Due to improvements in rural sanitation and the use of the insecticide DDT in the 1960s and 1970s, bedbugs were almost eliminated in South Korea for many years.

The bedbugs in the current outbreak were first found in a sauna in Incheon in October at a popular spot for foreign tourists. They were also found in a dormitory of Kai Myung University in Daegu. The beds where the bedbugs appeared had been used by foreign exchange students, and the university suspected that they had been brought into the country.

Since then, South Korean authorities have been receiving complaints about bedbugs. As of October, bedbugs were found in 18 of Seoul’s 25 districts, mainly in dormitories, examination centers, motels, and saunas, among other places.

As of Nov. 6, South Korea has received more than 30 complaints about bedbugs from 17 cities.

On Nov. 3, the Ministry of Administration and Safety set up an inter-departmental working group under the Prime Minister’s Office to deal with the spread of bedbugs. The government has designated the period from Nov. 13 to Dec. 8 as a period of intensive control of bedbugs, with specific prevention and removal of insects in high-risk places such as lodging and bathing facilities, social welfare facilities, and public transportation. During this period, different government departments and local governments will formulate weekly control plans and discuss their control efforts at government meetings.

In addition, Korea’s Airport Management Department said it will work with private epidemic prevention units to strengthen bedbug control efforts at the country’s 14 airports. All airports will increase the frequency of disinfection of high-risk areas, such as baggage inspection areas, from once a week to twice a week, and install a large number of bedbug traps to prevent bedbugs from coming into contact with travelers. The Bedbug Crisis in France Currently, the 2024 Paris Olympics less than a year away, and Paris is facing a major bedbug crisis. Residences, hotels, educational institutions, cinemas, libraries, and other public places in Paris are all infested with bedbugs. Some schools have even been forced to close for pest control.

“The state urgently needs to put an action plan in place against this scourge as France is preparing to welcome the Olympic and Paralympic games in 2024,” First Deputy Mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Gregoire, said in a letter to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne in late September.

In an interview with French TV, he said the government must coordinate action at every level of the state “as fast and as efficiently as possible.”

Reuters contributed to this report.