Ambulances carrying patients infected with the COVID-19 arrive at a hospital in Daegu on Sunday. Photo: AFP

South Koreans who have criticized local Chinese authorities for requiring passengers from South Korea to complete compulsory quarantine should understand the measures are rational moves aimed at preventing the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) from spreading further.

Seoul on Thursday afternoon reported 505 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the country's total number to 1,766, according to media reports. Several Chinese cities on Tuesday implemented rigid measures by introducing quarantine for all foreign visitors in an attempt to prevent overseas infection cases spreading to China.

For example, local authorities in Weihai, East China's Shandong Province, asked visitors traveling from South Korea - including Chinese - to spend 14-days in quarantine in hotels on arrival. Qingdao, another city in the province where there is a large Korean community, has applied a 14-day quarantine for all foreign visitors arriving there since Monday. 

Quarantine is necessary from the perspective of containing the outbreak. Given it's fast-spreading and the absence of effective drugs so far, quarantine is believed to be a decisive method. Implementing quarantine in these Chinese cities is not directed at any country, but is applicable to anyone arriving in the cities regardless of their nationalities. Even anyone returning to Beijing from another Chinese city is required to go into quarantine for 14 days.

Yet, dissatisfaction over China's quarantine measures has been heard in South Korea. South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha on Tuesday said the mandatory quarantine of arrivals from South Korea by some Chinese cities over concerns of the coronavirus epidemic as "excessive."

It is understandable that South Koreans feel uncomfortable with China's mandatory quarantine. China felt the same way when some other countries issued travel bans on people coming from China. However, every country develops measures according to the coronavirus' development and so does China. As the outbreak at home remains scathing, there is nothing wrong with China imposing compulsory quarantine in an effort to stop the spread of the epidemic.

Similarly, in the initial stages of the coronavirus outbreak, Seoul also banned all foreigners who had been in Central China's Hubei province.

The outbreak of COVID-19 exemplifies that China and South Korea share a common destiny. If China can soon overcome the disease, South Korea will be one of the beneficiaries, which is why Seoul should understand China's measures.

In fact, the country whose reaction is indeed "excessive" is the US. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the US on Monday raised its travel advisory for South Korea to the highest level and urged people in the US to avoid all nonessential travel to this East Asia country, in response to the spiraling number of infectious patients.

As two countries worst hit by the coronavirus disease, China and South Korea are expected to collaborate more in preventing and controlling the outbreak. As the international community's awareness of the epidemic is limited, the two countries can share their experiences and results of their scientific research with each other.

Because of close economic and people-to-people exchanges, keeping records of people crossing borders between the two countries and following up whether they have virus symptoms will contribute to dealing with the epidemic. Furthermore, media outlets in both countries should engage in more cooperation. It is reported some South Koreans blame the spread of the epidemic on Chinese people, triggering anti-Chinese sentiment.

Attributing the outbreak to China is a kind of racism. Media in Beijing and Seoul should play a role in correcting public opinion by explaining that panic over the coronavirus disease undermines their friendship, and impacts the normal exchanges and collaboration between the two countries.

The author is an associate research fellow at the National Institute of International Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn