A young man stands out on starkly hollow streets of downtown Daegu on Feb. 20, 2020. People of the city stayed in their homes as the number of confirmed patients of COVID-19 surged in Daegu.

Personnel from the Army disinfect the streets near Dongdaegu train station in Daegu on Feb. 29, 2020, in a quarantine operation against the new coronavirus. (Yonhap)

Streets of downtown in Daegu, a city some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, are virtually empty at 6:40 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2020.

Seen here is Cheorwon Plain in Cheorwon, 88 kilometers northeast of Seoul, on July 8, 2020.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun (L), also the U.S.