Seoul, Oct 13 (IANS): South Korean Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said on Wednesday that the government will prepare for a gradual return to normalcy from the Covid-19 pandemic amid a higher vaccination rate.

Kim presided over an inaugural meeting of the government-civilian committee to draw up measures for the return to normal life under the pandemic, saying the country is currently at the stage of preparing to return to normalcy carefully, Xinhua news agency reported.

The committee, composed of civilian experts and government officials, was launched to come up with the so-called "living with Covid-19" plan.

Kim said the government will prepare to turn the Covid-19 from an unknown terror into a controllable infectious disease to return the normal life back to people.

The prime minister noted that it is not possible to take off masks right away, saying the government also needs to prepare for the worst pandemic situation.

He added that the government can consider a new way of virus prevention measures, such as the vaccine pass that allows fully-vaccinated people more access to multi-use facilities.

In the latest tally, the country has administered vaccines to over 40.12 million people, or 78.1 per cent of the population, with 60.8 per cent being fully inoculated.