South Korea's new coronavirus cases dipped below 10,000 on Monday, as the country moved to end almost all COVID-19 restrictions and return to pre-pandemic normalcy.

The country reported 7,178 cases, including 16 imported cases, bringing the total caseload to 31,415,280, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.

Monday's tally was down from 8,164 cases a week ago but was higher than the 5,772 two weeks ago.

The country added seven COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 34,610.

The number of critically ill patients came to 150, down six from a day earlier, the KDCA said.

The country is set to lower the national crisis level for COVID-19 to "alert" from "serious" in June and remove most antivirus measures after the World Health Organization declared the end of the COVID-19 global health emergency. (Yonhap)