Reports keep rising a week after the festival closed... More than 720 suspected food poisoning cases at Gimje Horizon Festival

[Financial News] The number of visitors who developed suspected food poisoning symptoms after attending the Gimje Horizon Festival in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, has risen to 720, and reports are still coming in a week after the festival closed.
According to Yonhap News and other outlets on the 12th, 720 visitors had reported suspected food poisoning symptoms after attending the Gimje Horizon Festival as of 10 a.m. that day.
About five people first reported suspected food poisoning symptoms on the festival’s final day, the 5th; the festival ran from the 1st through the 5th. Reports have continued to rise since then. Of those who developed symptoms, 91 are hospitalized and receiving treatment, while 54 have completed inpatient treatment and been discharged, according to reports.
Salmonella was detected in 32 hospitalized patients and norovirus in one, while other viruses, including sapovirus, were detected in nine, according to reports.
Most of those who developed symptoms were found to have eaten gimbap sold at a booth inside the festival grounds, but some had eaten other foods, and those cases are also being investigated. However, it has not yet been confirmed whether the gimbap was the direct cause or whether the detected pathogens were linked to food at the festival.
Gimje City and the Gimje Horizon Festival Organizing Committee issued an apology on the 9th, saying, “As the organizing bodies, we feel the weight of our responsibility and bow our heads in apology. We are deeply sorry to have caused unexpected pain and great inconvenience to those who came to the festival to make happy memories with their families and relatives.”
They added, “Health authorities are currently conducting an epidemiological investigation swiftly to prevent further harm and determine the exact cause. We will make the swift recovery of those affected our top priority and do our utmost to ensure that no necessary guidance or support is lacking.”
They added, “We take this incident seriously and will overhaul food hygiene standards and management systems for future festivals, and take every measure to ensure this never happens again.”
Meanwhile, Gimje City collected samples from 13 workers involved in preparing and serving food and submitted them for testing to determine the cause. Knives, cutting boards and other items used at the site were also collected and sent to the Jeonbuk Institute of Health and Environment for detailed testing. At the direction of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, a reconstruction test will also be conducted, in which food is prepared again using the tools used at the booth and then analyzed. The test results are expected on the 19th.
A city official said, “We plan to draw up compensation guidelines for visitors through meetings with loss adjusters. We are hearing from relevant departments and organizations and discussing measures to prevent a recurrence.”
[email protected] Kim Su-yeon Reporter