TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Korean couple who came to Taiwan in February were fined a total of NT$300,000 (US$9,969) for violating their quarantine amidst the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and were barred from exiting the country by the Kaohsiung Branch of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) administrative enforcement agency.

The couple entered Taiwan with a sightseeing tour group on February 25 and were caught wandering around the southern city of Kaohsiung. Having breached their quarantine, the Kaohsiung Department of Health fined each person NT$150,000. They were later transferred to the custody of the Kaohsiung Administrative Enforcement Department.

The department also prohibited the couple from exiting the country on April 1.

The next day, the Korean couple attempted to board a flight back home. However, they were stopped by the National Immigration Agency at Taoyuan International Airport. The Kaohsiung Administrative Enforcement Department fined the couple NT$1,000 on the spot but left NT$400 for the two to spend on transportation costs.

As the two claimed they had no funds to pay for accommodation, they were placed in a Taipei church by the staff of the Korean Mission in Taipei with help from its Kaohsiung office.

The Kaohsiung Administrative Enforcement Department said that the couple’s relatives in South Korea were contacted through the Korean Mission in Taipei. With the assistance of their relatives, the two finally paid off the NT$300,000 in the afternoon and the department immediately lifted their exit ban.