Cherry blossoms splash color across the cityscape as the
fresh green hues of spring push aside the brown cocoon of winter. A sense of
hope and new life has been palpable this past week culminating in Easter Sunday
with its promise of a life after.
Overall, it has been a good week for Korea with daily new
cases of COVID-19 dropping to around 25.
Sadly, the week also marked the capital city's first two deaths from the
virus and saw the total nationwide death rate pass through the 200 threshold.
While each life is precious and even a single death a tragedy for loved ones,
compared to other major metropolitan areas, Seoul in particular and Korea in
general have fared very well.
Source: http://ncov.mohw.go.kr/
Korea has managed this remarkable performance without any
general lockdown that is being imposed in most 'advanced' western nations. Korea, a 'globally connected' society, has
made every effort to keep the skies open although all arriving passengers are
obliged to 'self-quarantine' for 14 days. Schools remain closed and large
gatherings remain banned (respected by all but a few unrepentant protestant
churches). People go to work, factories are operating, restaurants remain open
(albeit with somewhat reduced clientele), public transport is operating
normally. Traffic was very light on
Easter Sunday but any respite from rush hour on Friday night was indiscernible.
While the frenetic energy of Seoul is somewhat subdued, for most of the
population, life goes on more or less as normal.
Korea is frequently cited as a model case for dealing with
the pandemic and many world leaders have called President Moon looking for
insights into how best to manage the crisis in their own jurisdictions. Unfortunately, I doubt whether Korea's model
offers a blueprint for others. The most
effective countermeasure is to be prepared.
In most countries, it is too late for that. Korea never stood down from MERS so all of
the systems were in place to identify people infected by the virus. Potential spreaders were quickly
isolated. Tracking systems are world
class providing citizens with real time information about places where infected
people have been. Recent arrivals violating the 14-day quarantine are identified
immediately and sanctioned. Admonitions
to wash your hands, wear a mask, cover your mouth when sneezing and exercise
social distancing are ubiquitous.
However, Korea's most enviable and most difficult to copy secret weapon
is the disciplined population. Virtual universal adherence to pandemic countermeasures
have spared the government more draconian measures. While many countries have
had to resort to suspending political freedoms to achieve effective
countermeasures, Koreans go to the polls on the 15th of April to
elect their representatives to the National Assembly. There is much to be admired about Korea's
response but copying it may be more difficult.
Personally, I am proud of Korea, the country that my family
has called home for 135 years. In my
lifetime, this country had changed itself from a poor nation, unable to feed
and care for itself to a global model – perhaps the only country to emerge from
this crisis with minimal impact in all spheres, health, economy and politics.
대한민국 만세!
Peter Underwood, Managing Partner
For up to date information: Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare Infection Rate Tracker
IRC CONSULTING
Suite 1705, Officia Building, 92, Saemunan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea 03186
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