[Viewpoint] We Are Legend

Cho Hee-jin, Chief Attorney at Dambak Law Firm

When the first case of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) occurred in South Korea, I was hospitalized in a large hospital in Seoul. Being hospitalized and fasting during the Lunar New Year holiday period felt very lonely and boring. As soon as the news of the COVID-19 patient broke out, an unfamiliar and uncomfortable situation unfolded. The hospital strictly controlled the entry and exit of visitors and patients and monitored their movements. I felt like I was trapped in the hospital room and was finally discharged. Perhaps because the hospital had been harshly criticized for poor patient management during the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak, I thought they were being excessively strict.

As COVID-19 spread massively, a war against the virus began. When Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) broke out, South Korea was praised by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a model country for SARS prevention because not a single confirmed case was reported, with some even saying, "Koreans don't get infected because they eat garlic." However, as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rapidly increased in South Korea, the government’s quarantine system and the private medical system were fully mobilized. The government, private medical sector, and the high civic awareness for infectious disease prevention were systemically linked, earning good evaluations both domestically and internationally.

Recently, I watched the Netflix movie I Am Legend. It is a film reminiscent of the COVID-19 situation we are currently experiencing. The movie depicts the story of the sole survivor in a world where 90% of the global population has died and the rest have been infected by a virus, turning into zombie-like mutated humans. The protagonist struggles to find other survivors and develop a vaccine. A particularly memorable scene was when the protagonist talks to mannequins to feel alive. This scene shows that communication, beyond just eating, is essential for human survival. In the situation where everyone is isolated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we face a reality where we crave communication even more than before the pandemic for survival. In an ongoing disaster with no clear end, the most important thing is to find companions to overcome difficulties together before assigning responsibility for disaster management.

South Korea became the first country in the world to hold an election amid the COVID-19 crisis. The election took place in an unprecedented atmosphere where all social gatherings were restrained due to "social distancing" measures amid intense competition between ruling and opposition parties. Many public opinions attribute the ruling party’s landslide victory and the opposition’s defeat to the government and ruling party’s ability to handle the COVID-19 crisis. It can be seen that the public chose the ability to overcome a global crisis and empathy over blaming the government for economic mismanagement, polarized public opinion, and partisan conflicts before the COVID-19 outbreak.

The emotions I felt while watching the movie overlapped with the reality of South Korea following the election results. The COVID-19 crisis is not just a Korean issue but a global one, and personally, it was a matter of life or death. While all humanity on Earth was confused about what to do at the crossroads of life and death, what values or standards did our people consider when holding the election? Conservatism or progressivism? Judgment on the ruling party’s policy failures? The opposition’s governing capabilities? Perhaps the anxiety and fear about the destruction of the existing order by COVID-19 and the uncertain future were greater than those considerations. What the people wanted to say might have been, "Please let us live," and "Please listen to my story."

True to a Hollywood movie, the film ends with the protagonist’s dedication leading to the development of a vaccine, the remaining humanity being treated, and coming back to life. The devoted individual becomes a legend, and then everyone comes back to life and becomes legends, concluding with "We are legend." I hope that by listening to the desperate cries of the people and cooperating together, we can overcome various crises after COVID-19 and that all citizens will come back to life and become legends.

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