"Government Transparently Discloses, Citizens Trust Government" ... South Korea's 'COVID-19' Response Method

Ministry of the Interior and Safety Shares Experiences with International Community at Open Government Partnership Online Forum

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety shared the Republic of Korea government's experience in responding to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) with the international community.

On the 6th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it attended an online digital forum discussion held on the 5th by the Open Government Partnership (OGP), an international cooperative body, on the theme of COVID-19 response. Participants included Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand; Sanjay Pradhan, Secretary-General of OGP; Robin Hodess, Chair of OGP Civil Society; Cesar Huck, Deputy Minister of the Digital Government Department of the Argentine government, the OGP chair country; and Lee Jae-young, Director of Government Innovation Organization at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety of the Republic of Korea, the vice-chair country, who participated as discussants.

They shared experiences on how governments, civil society, and international organizations responded to COVID-19 and emphasized the importance of open government values such as transparency, anti-corruption, and citizen participation even amid an international crisis.

Our government presented the following COVID-19 response methods: ▲ establishing a prepared infectious disease response system ▲ rapid and transparent information disclosure by the government ▲ active participation of the private sector and local governments.

As one example of government-private cooperation, the government introduced the "Mask App," created by utilizing mask inventory data provided by the government and used by the private sector. One participant praised Korea's COVID-19 response method as "amazing," stating, "The government opened transparently, and the people showed trust in the government, which is an excellent case."

Lee Jae-young, Director of Government Innovation Organization at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "The value of open government shone even brighter amid the COVID-19 crisis," adding, "COVID-19 was an opportunity to realize once again that it is a problem that cannot be solved by the government alone, and that the experience and knowledge of the people are important."

Our government also cited the high civic consciousness of the people, who trusted and voluntarily cooperated with government recommendations, as a success factor in responding to COVID-19. It also mentioned the National Assembly election held last April, which achieved the highest voter turnout without additional infections, as a result of the people's efforts to realize democracy.

Director Lee said, "We were able to confirm once again that the international community is paying attention to the Republic of Korea's COVID-19 response," and added, "As the next OGP chair country, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will implement open government values and continue to share COVID-19 response cases with OGP and OECD."

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