Lessons From South Korea’s Covid-19 Policy Response

• Author: Jongeun You
• Published date: 01 August 2020
• Date: 01 August 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0275074020943708
• Subject Matter: Comparative Governance During COVID-19: Lessons From Around the WorldComparative Policy Approaches

https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074020943708

American Review of Public Administration

2020, Vol. 50(6-7) 801 –808

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0275074020943708

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Comparative Policy Approaches

Introduction

The emergence and amplification of infectious diseases have

influenced societal changes, which are not limited to public

health outcomes (Bloom & Cadarette, 2019). Accordingly,

infectious disease policy and emergency management have

encompassed social science perspectives beyond the biologi-

cal and medical perspective (Porter et al., 1999). As the

Covid-19 pandemic is massively impacting society, leading

to significant investment and new regulations by govern-

ments, the role of public administration is critical. Public

administration scholars can help understand the processes,

rules, and approaches that governments can use to help con-

trol the spread of the disease as well as mitigate its effects on

society (Weible et al., 2020). Furthermore, the current situa-

tion is highly uncertain, and Covid-19 is a transboundary

crisis. Thus, the public administration community needs to

embrace international and comparative perspectives on

Covid-19 to inform how governments respond to the crisis—

and potential future crises, including new waves of corona-

virus infection—and advance pandemic crisis management

(Boin & Lodge, 2016; Fitzpatrick et al., 2011).

South Korea recorded its first coronavirus disease 2019

(Covid-19) case on January 20, 2020, and its first coronavi-

rus death on February 20, 2020. As coronavirus infections in

South Korea surged to more than 3,000, the country had the

highest number of virus cases outside China until early

March 2020. As shown in Table 1, however, South Korea

slowed the spread of Covid-19 in a relatively short period

(Center for Systems Science and Engineering at the Johns

Hopkins University, 2020). As of April 15, 2020, among

10,591 confirmed cases in South Korea, 7,616 patients (72%)

recovered and were released from quarantine, 2,750 patients

(26%) were under quarantine, and 225 patients (2%) passed

away. Along with other seemingly successful efforts found in

Taiwan and Germany, South Korea has motivated govern-

ment leaders and public administrators around the world to

assess and update their policies for coping with the coronavi-

rus pandemic (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020).

The South Korean government described and shared its

coronavirus response with the world in their report titled

“Tackling Covid-19: Health, Quarantine and Economic

Measures of South Korea.” The report was published on

March 31, 2020, and explains their comprehensive approach

to the coronavirus outbreak, including the world’s first drive-

through screening centers, walk-through screening stations,

self-diagnosis application, and community treatment centers

943708ARPXXX10.1177/0275074020943708The American Review of Public AdministrationYou

research-article2020

1University of Colorado Denver, USA

Corresponding Author:

Jongeun You, School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver,

Denver, CO 80204, USA.

Email: jongeun.you@ucdenver.edu

Lessons From South Korea’s Covid-19

Policy Response

Jongeun You1

Abstract

In responding to the Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, some government policies have been more effective in containing,

suppressing, and mitigating the disease than others. Government leaders and public administrators can learn from other

countries and adapt these lessons to their crisis management and public health systems. South Korea has emerged as a

model to emulate in fighting the pandemic. While South Korea endured devastating early outbreaks, the country flattened

the coronavirus curve without paralyzing the national health and economic systems. The author reviews South Korea’s public

health policy approaches and the embedded context, by using documents and materials written in Korean and English, to

learn how the country managed coronavirus from January through April 2020. The critical factors in South Korea’s public

health administration and management that led to success include national infectious disease plans, collaboration with the

private sector, stringent contact tracing, an adaptive health care system, and government-driven communication. This article

also proposes some key aspects to be considered to transfer lessons from country-level responses in South Korea to other

contexts.

Keywords

pandemic crisis management, infectious disease, emergency management, public administration response