South Korea on Wednesday said masks will no longer be required outdoors from July for those vaccinated with at least one COVID-19 shot.
The move is a bid to encourage older residents to get vaccinated as South Korea aims to immunise at least 70 per cent of its 52 million people by September, from just 7.7 per cent now.
People given at least one dose also will be allowed to gather in larger numbers starting June, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum told a coronavirus response meeting on Wednesday.
He said all quarantine measures would be adjusted in October once more than 70 per cent of residents had received their first dose.
Over 60 per cent of people aged between 60 and 74 had signed up for vaccination, Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said.
South Korea will begin vaccinating the general public aged between 65 and 74 from Thursday in over 12,000 clinics.
South Korea reported 707 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the total tally to 137,682 infections, with 1,940 deaths.
US peace envoys meet Zelenskyy in Kyiv after Putin talks
US targets three Iranian oil vessels after attack on Navy ships
Israeli strikes kill seven in southern Lebanon
Indonesia's Anak Krakatau eruption halts flights, schools, fishing
Putin says US-Russia contacts beneficial as talks begin with Witkoff and Kushner
Chinese national rescued from Nepal tunnel 10 days after flash flood
US envoys Witkoff, Kushner arrive in Moscow for talks on peace in Ukraine
One dead, 11 people missing after mudslide in China's Jiangxi province
