- According to the new Covid-19 rules, South Korea has added a requirement that gyms should not play more than 120 music per minute during group exercises.
- Health officials said the measure is designed to prevent breathing too fast or spilling sweat on other people.
- The rule drew ridicule from some opposition lawmakers.
Many people who go to the gym rely on good tunes to complete their workouts, but in Korea, under the new Covid-19 rules, their music choices have just decreased significantly.
In addition to standard restrictions such as social distancing and travel restrictions, South Korea has also added a requirement that gyms should not play more than 120 times per minute (bpm) during group exercises such as aerobics and spinning.
Health officials said the measure is designed to prevent breathing too fast or spilling sweat on other people, while avoiding having to completely shut down such businesses as in previous waves.
The rules drew ridicule from some opposition lawmakers, who called them “nonsense,” and gym owners felt that these rules were almost ineffective or impractical.
For Kang Hyun-ku, the owner of a gym in northern Seoul, arranging fast, trendy K-pop songs on his playlist is his morning routine.
“Playing bright tracks is to uplift our members and the overall mood, but my biggest question is whether playing classical music or BTS songs has been proven to have any effect on spreading the virus,” Kang told Reuters.
“Many people now use their own headphones and wearable devices. How do you control their playlists?”
As the country fights the worst Covid-19 epidemic in history, the government has implemented the highest level of distancing regulations in Seoul and neighboring areas starting from Monday.
The rules also limit the speed of the treadmill to a maximum of 6 kilometers per hour, prohibit the use of showers in the gym, and restrict two people at each table from participating in table tennis matches.
Kim Yong-tae, a member of the main opposition People’s Power Party, said: “Therefore, if you walk at a speed of less than 6 kilometers per hour, you will not be infected with Covid-19.” “Who will check the bpm of a song when you exercise? I don’t understand Covid- 19 What does it have to do with the music I choose.”
When asked about the actual effectiveness of the exercise music speed guide, a health official said that the authorities made the decision after considering a wide range of opinions.
On Monday, President Moon Jae-in said that he felt heavy when he thought of small and medium-sized business owners and others bound by the rules.
“I can’t help asking citizens to be more patient again, and I feel very sorry,” he said at the Covid-19 special response meeting.
Whang Myung-sug, a 62-year-old member of Kang’s Gym, said the government has adopted double standards when restricting gyms.
“These regulations are just bureaucratic, as if the people who made them have never exercised in the gym,” she said.
Don’t worry: the 120 bpm rule means that you can still listen to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” or K-pop’s latest hits that made BTS sensational, such as “Dynamite” and “Butter”. However, if your favorite fitness song is Psy’s “Gangnam Style”-a Korean hit that has taken the world by storm-then you are in luck.
