"South Korea Shows the Power of Democracy in Fight Against COVID-19... Different from Authoritarian China"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] While the world is focusing on preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), South Korea's efficient response to COVID-19 has been evaluated as demonstrating that democratic countries have an advantage in public health crises.

On the 11th (local time), Josh Rogin, a Washington Post (WP) columnist, stated this in a column dealing with global responses to COVID-19. Comparing the authoritarian state China and the democratic state South Korea, he evaluated that "South Korea has shown that democracy is better suited for public health."

Columnist Rogin pointed out two problems regarding the Chinese Communist Party's declaration through its official newspaper that the superiority of the Chinese system was once again proven through the COVID-19 crisis. He said, "First, accepting the Chinese government's self-praise that it succeeded in suppressing COVID-19 requires a huge blind faith to believe first," and "Second, to view China's response as a victory and praise it, one must overlook the months during which the Chinese government denied, concealed, and mishandled COVID-19," criticizing the situation.

Rogin emphasized that South Korea is suppressing the spread of COVID-19 through a series of key measures, and that its methods differ from those of the Chinese government. He said, "The South Korean government's measures focus on public education, increasing transparency, and civic participation," adding, "This is not the Chinese government's method of forcibly confining millions to their homes, forcing minorities into factory labor, and eliminating anyone who criticizes government measures."

This diagnosis came amid the contrasting situation where COVID-19 is calming down in the authoritarian state China, but confirmed cases are rapidly increasing in liberal democratic countries such as Europe and the United States. It argues that the poor COVID-19 response in the US and Italy is merely the fault of individual governments and not a flaw in the model of liberal democratic societies.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In particular, he mentioned South Korea's rapid expansion of testing targets as the most effective weapon against COVID-19. Currently, 15,000 tests are conducted daily, with a cumulative total of 210,000 since January 3. He also introduced that although confirmed cases rapidly increased in South Korea, the fatality rate was only 0.71% due to large-scale testing.

Columnist Rogin also emphasized that South Korean civil society is voluntarily participating in the COVID-19 response. He cited as representative examples the cancellation of large-scale events, churches replacing masses or worship services with online services, and the government persuading citizens to refrain from visiting Daegu, the main outbreak city, without turning the entire city into a prison.

WP also praised South Korea's efforts to prevent the overseas spread of COVID-19 by increasing the level of testing for passengers departing to places like the United States at airports. He explained, "The South Korean government wanted other countries to continue trading with South Korea and to trust that they could accept Koreans," adding, "South Korea focused on increasing transparency and openness, unlike China's repeated behavior of distorting matters and diverting attention."

Columnist Rogin argued that if China had responded as openly and transparently as South Korea did 7 to 8 weeks ago, the COVID-19 crisis would not have worsened as it has now. He said, "The South Korean government's response is even stronger because it approached criticism and testing with an open attitude," and "Thanks to that, South Korea's public health and economic situation is likely to improve more quickly."

Furthermore, he noted that democratic countries balance individual freedom and government responsibility, highlighting South Korea's case as a model where democratic values do not make citizens vulnerable but rather stronger.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.