First bedbug case confirmed in Jeju

A guest at an accommodation in a recreational forest reported suspicion of bedbugs on Monday after finding a bite on their shoulder, local authorities said.

Disinfection experts are disinfecting an accommodation in Busanjin District, Busan on Nov. 13, 2023. [SONG BONG-GEUN]

Bedbugs were found at an accommodation in Seogwipo, Jeju, marking the first confirmed bedbug case on the island.

A guest at an accommodation in a recreational forest reported suspicion of bedbugs on Monday after finding a bite on their shoulder, local authorities said.

An investigation followed the Monday report.

Local public health authorities collected a specimen from the bedbug-suspected area and sent it to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, which confirmed the case on Tuesday.

Authorities found a total seven bedbugs.

Public health authorities temporarily closed the area after disinfection experts implemented chemical and physical pest-control measures on the reported area.

The area will be disinfected every once a week until bedbugs are non-detectable, local authorities said.

The region has had 10 suspected cases since the pest invasion occurred in Korea in October last year.

Tuesday's case was the first confirmed case on the island. One case was reported on a ship traveling to Jeju.

Local governments claimed that bedbugs disappeared in Korea in the 1970s after the government improved the residential environments and implemented DDT pesticides through the Saemaeul Movement.

Last October, however, bedbugs reappeared in a jimjilbang, or Korean bathhouse, in Incheon on Oct. 13. Bedbug reports have declined since the beginning of the year, with 47 cases during the third week of December to 15 cases during the fourth week of January.

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]