Turning crisis into opportunity
Paragon response to pandemic boosts Korea’s global leadership, innovative economy
The government committed to transparency and openness with citizens, which helped both disseminate information on how the public could help contain the virus and foster a sense of civic responsibility.
Korea’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic has been attracting global attention.
Leaders around the world, including U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, among 30 others, have called President Moon Jae-in since the outbreak of the COVID-19, seeking to learn from Korea’s fast and preemptive responses.
One of the things that the world have been marveling at is how Korea has been able to bring down the number of infections without imposing extreme measures such as lockdowns, as in the case of Wuhan, China, the original COVID-19 hotspot. In April, Korea even managed to proceed with a general election as planned, becoming the first country to hold a nationwide election at the height of the COVID-19 spread.
Civic cooperation for ‘freedom for all’
Experts have commonly underlined a unique combination of experience from past disasters, the cooperation of civic society and an affordable healthcare system, in addition to President Moon’s leadership, as some of the main reasons for Korea’s success in tackling the new global health challenge.
“In responding to the pandemic, Korea sought to learn from painful experience and rely on experts. This helped prevent politicization and built trust,” former U.S. Ambassador to Korea, Kathleen Stephens, who is the president and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute of America, told The Korea Times via e-mail, May 19.
“Identifying hard lessons from its difficult experience with combatting the 2015 MERS outbreak, the Korean government this time quickly developed and implemented testing, and adopted technologies such as contact tracing in response to early cases of COVID-19.”
“Equally important, the government committed to transparency and openness with citizens, which helped both disseminate information on how the public could help contain the virus and foster a sense of civic responsibility,” Stephens said.
Korea’s response has been highlighted particularly by a unique model of civic cooperation which places high importance on the community over individual interests.
“In that moment of crisis and challenge, the Korean people made a bold decision. We took our own individual freedoms and turned it to an even greater freedom — freedom for all,” President Moon said during a keynote speech at the 73rd World Health Assembly, May 18.
“The Korean people displayed the highest form of civic virtues to practice the spirit of freedom for all and voluntarily participated in quarantine efforts. This was what really enabled the three main principles of openness, transparency and democracy to flourish. The government also supported the people’s efforts with swift, widespread testing and creative approaches.”
There is also a lot of global attention on the role of Korea’s low-cost, accessible healthcare system which has been instrumental in Korea’s success in managing the situation.
“South Korea’s existing health infrastructure, which made healthcare accessible and affordable, also bolstered the country’s effective response,” Stephens added.
“The most important difference comes from institutional readiness,” Moon Chung-in, special adviser to President Moon for foreign affairs and national security, told The Korea Times in a recent interview.
“We have set up enormous institutional capacity; for example, almost universal medical insurance, extremely easy access to medical doctors, and very low-cost medical services. We could have never effectively dealt with the pandemic without such institutional arrangements.”
Crisis into opportunity
Although the pandemic has taken lives and resulted in grave socio-economic challenges, President Moon has often stressed that he will turn this crisis into an opportunity by taking advantage of various experiences the nation has accumulated in dealing with the pandemic.
Moon is aiming to increase Korea’s leadership role not just in pandemic management, but other areas as well.
Above all, Seoul seeks to lead international cooperation in “human security,” which has emerged as a core challenge in the post-pandemic world.
“A favorable assessment by the international community has significantly expanded Korea’s diplomatic horizon. Our country now stands at the center of international cooperation, and the Republic of Korea’s status on multilateral stages such as the G20 and ASEAN+3 has risen beyond recognition,” Moon said during a national address to mark the third anniversary of his inauguration, May 10.
“We will make the most of this opportunity. Building upon successful epidemic prevention efforts, we will lead international cooperation in the post-COVID-19 era while placing human security at the center. The concept of security today has expanded from conventional military security to human security that deals with all factors threatening safety such as disasters, diseases and environmental issues. We can cope with these only when all countries pull together through solidarity and cooperation.”
Korea watchers say Korea can seize the opportunity for stronger global leadership.
“President Moon is smart and South Korea can find a lot of partners all over the world who want to work in practical ways to address public health, climate, inequality, sustainable ways of surviving and coming out of the pandemic,” said Professor John Delury at Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Studies.
“I think there is a huge leadership opportunity for South Korea working together with other countries around the world.”
High-tech innovation
The Korean government also sees economic opportunities amid the “economic war situation” in the post-pandemic world.
During the third anniversary address, Moon said that he will transform Korea in to a “world factory of high-tech industries,” taking advantage of its newfound status as the “safest and the most transparent production base.”
“Countries around the world have now begun to prefer innovative capabilities and safe investment destinations to cheap labor. This presents a golden opportunity for us,” Moon said. “We will push ahead with bold strategies to attract high-tech industries and investments from overseas, as well as to help Korean companies return from abroad. The Republic of Korea will become a world factory of hightech industries, thereby changing the global industrial map.”
The government expects that new investment strategies, such as the Korean version of the “New Deal” for upgrading the nation’s digital infrastructure, will foster innovation in the local economy in the post-pandemic period.
In particular, Seoul sees huge opportunities in none face-to-face, or contactless, industries related to medical services, education and retail distribution.