hankyoreh

Never in my life have I seen South Korea receive such praise from around the world. It may be the first time in the history of the Republic of Korea. Major global media outlets have been lavish in their praise, first of South Korea’s successful efforts to control the spread of the novel coronavirus and now of the general elections that were held on Apr. 15 amid the ongoing pandemic.

The BBC said on Apr. 15 that South Korea was “once again determined to prove what is possible during this pandemic.” The report observed with a note of envy how a nationwide election was being held, with South Koreans observing disease prevention rules despite the efforts entailed. The US news magazine Time quoted an expert as saying on Apr. 13 that the South Korean election process had been “well-thought through from the perspective of minimizing COVID-19 infection risk” and “would be a model for how to effectively and safely process voters in the United States.” Forty-seven countries, including the US, the UK, and France, have postponed elections because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Apr. 14, 600,000 South Korean COVID-19 diagnostic kits were exported to the US. US President Donald Trump had requested assistance with kits in a Mar. 24 telephone conversation with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. During the conversation, Trump lauded how well South Korea was responding to the coronavirus situation. To date, 126 countries have asked South Korea for shipments of diagnostic kits and other disease prevention items.

Multiple countries and international organizations are hoping to learn from South Korea’s experience with successful disease control. South Korea has managed to keep the coronavirus in check through open and transparent measures without any nationwide lockdown or restrictions on movements. Moon had discussed coronavirus response measures in telephone conversations with the leaders of over 20 countries, from French President Emmanuel Macron on Mar. 13 to Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering on Apr. 13. These heads of states have all been requesting that South Korea share its experience and provide support with disease prevention items.

People overseas have also been marveling at the civic consciousness in South Korea. It raises our stature as a nation when the media report throughout the world about the lack of hoarding, the mask donations, the generosity of landlords, and “kind consumption” practices.

A BBC article on South Korea’s Apr. 15 general election. (BBC website)

This is the combined result of dedication on the part of health professionals and volunteers, the hard work of disease control authorities, and a mature civic consciousness. We also cannot ignore the role of government leadership. The opposition and conservative media have been blasting the administration for “riding on the efforts of the public,” but this is inaccurate. The democratic yet efficient control of the coronavirus would not have been possible without swift and bold decision-making from the Moon administration. Typically, it is during moments of crisis that true leadership is revealed. This is not self-congratulation by the administration -- it's the assessment of the South Korean public.

According to weekly opinion poll results published by Gallup Korea, Moon’s approval rating rose from 42% in the fourth week of February -- when the Shincheonji cluster infection was spreading in Daegu -- all the way to 57% by the second week of April, just before the general election. Over the same period, the proportion of respondents rating the Moon administration as “handling its coronavirus response well” rose from 30% to 59%. In contrast, the percentage of respondents rating it as “inadequate” dropped from 41% to 19%. These views among the public were borne out in their election votes: the ruling Democratic Party swept to a dominant victor, while the opposition United Future Party faced voters’ judgment for hampering the administration’s coronavirus response at every turn. Crisis response capabilities are the most crucial yardstick in evaluating an administration. With their votes, the public threw their support behind the Moon administration to do an even better job of overcoming the coronavirus crisis.

Arrogance is a dangerous thing. Praise is like perfume: you’re only supposed to sniff it, and if you drink it, it will make you sick. We need to draw courage from the praise without allowing it to go to our heads. The challenge that faces us is simply too serious. Singapore, which had been praised as a “model of disease control” early on in the coronavirus outbreak, has seen its number of cases rising by the hundreds per day in April -- a renewed outbreak. This has been described as stemming from complacency. In South Korea, the number of new patients diagnosed has fallen below 50 per day for seven straight days since Apr. 9, but there has been an unending string of patients arriving from overseas, and we’ve been seeing cases of people being rediagnosed with the virus after being pronounced recovered. We cannot afford to let up. It isn’t over until it’s over.

Additionally, the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus is only just beginning. On Apr. 14, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that the global economy will face its “worst economic downturn since the Great Depression” in the 1930s. It projected negative growth rates of -3.0% for the global economy and -1.2% for the South Korean economy this year. So far, it looks as though the administration has handled the economic crisis relatively well. But it needs to be more discriminating. It needs to use swift and bold decision-making and an active and creative response to transform the crisis into an opportunity. We need to join forces across party lines and differences of “progressive” and “conservative.” That is the message sent by the South Korean public in the Apr. 15 general election.

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By Ahn Jae-seung, editorial writer

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]