After implementing tighter restrictions on December 5, the government is to decide on December 6 whether to impose new measures in a country that had seen initial success through aggressive contact tracing and other steps.
The new cases bring the country's tally to 37,546, with 545 deaths, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported.
Many of the recent cases have been centered in the capital city of Seoul, which on December 5 launched unprecedented curfews, shuttering most establishments and shops at 9 p.m. (1200 GMT) for two weeks and cutting back public transportation operations by 30% in the evenings.