CANBERRA: Worldwide demand for South Koreas “drive-thru” COVID-19 test kits and other precision contact tracing methods boosted the countrys image as a leading global health care and technology powerhouse.
Early success in managing the pandemic also gave South Korean voters more confidence in President Moon Jae-ins administration. On Apr 15, Moons public approval rating reached a 17-month high of 54.4 per cent and his Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections.
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The election victory was partly a matter of luck. Moons leadership began to shine during the COVID-19 crisis, especially by swaying public opinion toward his administrations all-out campaign for pandemic management.
Until then, he had faced a lame-duck situation, with a record-low public approval rating of 39 per cent, partly due to the Cho Kuk scandal. He presided over South Koreas slowest economic growth in decades and stalled nuclear talks with North Korea.
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Further, the initial South Korean COVID-19 outbreak was, at the time, the worst outside China, prompting over 1.4 million South Koreans to sign an online petition demanding Moons impeachment.
The initial COVID-19 outbreak also had 181 countries impose either entry exclusions or restrictions on people from South Korea.
A PROACTIVE RESPONSE
The successful management of COVID-19 was led by the Director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Jung Eun-kyeong, now dubbed a national hero.
Off the back of this success, President Moon moved to reset his national management by endorsing a massive economic stimulus package, the Korean New Deal, to create jobs for the post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
By stressing the governments plan to expand the countrys digital infrastructure, Moon claimed that South Korea would become the "safest and most transparent production base in the world".
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South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks on the occasion of the third anniversary of his inauguration at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, on May 10, 2020. (Photo: Kim Min-Hee/Pool via REUTERS)
Three key factors underpin South Koreas successful management of COVID-19. The first factor is the governments proactive response. Past experience with public health crises and lessons learnt in dealing with them underpinned this response.
In 2015, the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) resulted in 38 deaths. Former president Park Geun-hyes slow response and lack of transparency regarding the outbreak, in particular, shocked the South Korean public.
This national trauma prompted the government to redraft many of its infectious disease prevention laws and public health policy, focusing on early testing, contact tracing and isolating infectious individuals.
Overall, 97 per cent of South Korean citizens have health insurance, covered largely by a universal health safety net provided by the countrys health care system.
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ADVANCED ICT AND PUBLIC COOPERATION
The second key factor underpinning South Koreas successful COVID-19 management is its world-class information and communication technology (ICT).
This enables health authorities to expand high-tech digital tracing measures and information gathering. It collates patient contact details and personal information using mobile phones, credit card payment history and CCTV data analysis.
The vital role of sophisticated biotech companies, especially in quickly producing test kits, is also inseparable from South Koreas ICT system which enables local governments to send prompt digital alerts to citizens in accordance with the new laws.
The collective trauma of the MERS and 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreaks meant the public at large readily accepted the governments quarantine measures and related laws through the frame of civic duty.
People wear masks to avoid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as they walk through a department store in Seoul, South Korea, Apr 30, 2020. (File photo: REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)
The third and arguably the most notable factor underpinning South Koreas praised COVID-19 response is national public health cooperation.
The collective role played by and the cooperation between medical workers and health care communities, in both private and public sector medical institutions, was integral to the response to COVID-19. This created a sense of the "power of social solidarity" in the country.
A BOLD NEW DEAL
Still South Korea has not defeated COVID-19 and many policy challenges remain. Sporadic recurrences of newly confirmed cases and deaths continue to increase.
Other challenges facing South Korea – despite Moons pandemic-induced Korean New Deal – have just begun. There will be difficulties for the government in making South Korea a true digital technology and healthcare powerhouse.
READ: Commentary: South Korea succeeded in controlling COVID-19 panic buying, thanks to tracking and surveillance
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