[Desk Column] After COVID-19

[Asia Economy Kim Min-jin, Head of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups] "Hong Kong was not the origin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), but merely the gateway through which it spread worldwide. However, it was very close to the origin. The terrifying disease called SARS quietly began several months earlier in Guangdong Province, the southernmost region of mainland China, known as a commercial hub and a land famous for its exquisite cuisine."

Renowned science writer David Quammen warned of the dangers of 'zoonotic diseases' in his 2017 book The Tangled Tree of All Infectious Diseases. He explained that infectious diseases such as SARS, Ebola, AIDS, and MERS, which have driven humanity into fear and death, all originate from pathogens crossing over from animals to humans. Quammen cautioned that if humans do not humble themselves before nature, nature will strike again at any time.

Unfortunately, Quammen's warning proved accurate. The world is groaning under the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In China, over 80,000 patients have been reported with more than 3,200 deaths. Within three months of the outbreak, 120,000 patients and nearly 5,000 deaths were recorded across 107 countries worldwide. Quammen identified climate change and global pandemics as events that could lead humanity to extinction.

Kang Byung-chul, a physician and translator of this book, stated that although COVID-19 will eventually subside and treatments and vaccines will emerge, stronger infectious diseases will come in the future, and under current conditions, we will inevitably face them again. This means that as humanity rapidly destroys ecosystems and encroaches on animal habitats, we cannot avoid viral catastrophes.

Many scientists and scholars warn that "if humans do not abandon greed, the end of humanity will come," but once COVID-19 recedes, we will return to daily life and ultimately follow the same formula for growth and development as before. As if nothing ever happened.

However, it does not seem that nothing will change at all. Remote work, online systems, unmanned operations, and automation will accelerate further, bringing significant changes to our lifestyle patterns. To prevent workplace closures due to the spread of COVID-19, many companies are implementing similar measures. Although non-contact and isolation measures may seem primitive, like fighting off alien invaders with sticks, they are the most effective ways to prevent infection.

These involuntarily initiated experiences and experiments will bring about new systems and innovations. Professor Lee Byung-tae of KAIST pointed out in a Facebook post that the biggest social changes brought by COVID-19 will include increased social acceptance of the digital economy, online restructuring of distribution, redistribution and dispersion of resources for risk diversification, and the decline of industries and businesses that attract crowds.

Lifestyle changes to protect individuals and society from viruses are also intertwined with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The pace of innovation will accelerate. Through artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, robotics, drones, autonomous vehicles, and virtual reality, computers and machines will provide tremendous convenience to humans and eventually replace human roles. However, technological advancement cannot guarantee protection of humanity from 'plagues.'

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The world is increasingly being drawn into fear. The author Kang Byung-chul said, "We must recognize that the current misfortune is ultimately self-inflicted. It is necessary to reconsider what the ultimate values are. We must change all priorities in life." Now, caught in the fear of COVID-19 and after being freed from this fear, will we seek ways to prevent alienation and extinction?

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