Yoon Hee-sook: "How Long Will Lockdown Measures Sacrificing Rights Continue... Time to Establish Principles for a Prolonged Battle"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] On the 15th, Yoon Hee-sook, a member of the People Power Party, suggested forming a national-level 'Post-COVID-19 Social Change Preparation Committee,' stating that "it is time to establish principles for a prolonged battle" regarding the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

On the same day, Yoon said on her Facebook, "In the early stages of COVID-19, our country demonstrated a model of successful quarantine through resolute tracking and testing that disregarded severe privacy invasions and the active mask-wearing of the public. However, after about seven months, this is no longer a short-term exceptional situation that justifies pursuing lockdown measures at the expense of all rights."

She emphasized the need to create a national-level preparation committee, saying, "The principle of a prolonged battle, that is, how to minimize infringements on basic rights such as privacy and assembly, how to promote interaction and empathy among citizens, and how to change daily life, is the essence of responding to a prolonged battle."

Yoon also pointed out that suspicions are arising among the public that the government is politically exploiting quarantine measures.

She said, "Although the number of confirmed cases varies depending on the number of tests, only the number of confirmed cases is announced without mentioning the denominator, which has been consistently criticized but falls on deaf ears," adding, "On weekends, the number of tests decreases due to reduced testing personnel, yet it is presented as if the decrease in confirmed cases reflects the success of quarantine."

Yoon added, "Therefore, suspicions that the government increases testing when necessary to instill fear and that it uses quarantine for other purposes have not subsided."

Regarding the antibody survey results announced by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency the day before, she criticized, "Many experts have recommended large-scale sample testing, and the same issue was pointed out accurately when the test results were announced in early July, but the sample size was only 1,440. The results showed only one person with antibodies, with an antibody prevalence rate of just 0.07%. However, since the proportion of confirmed cases with unknown infection routes has recently reached 25%, it is difficult to fully trust these results."

Yoon referred to the criticisms of Professor Yuval Harari and domestic progressive sociologist Professor Han Sang-jin, saying, "They are concerned that if the government’s abuse of power during the pandemic is not checked, it will directly lead to the totalitarianization of the post-pandemic social system. This means that democracy, which was once sound, will collapse during the pandemic response process, and society will lose its future."

She stressed, "The success of quarantine depends on the trust of the people. People comply with quarantine rules only when they fully trust the quarantine authorities," adding, "Above all, transparency of information related to quarantine and the restoration of trust are crucial." She further stated, "It would be a good start to promptly conduct a reliable antibody survey with large-scale samples that allow comparisons by region and population groups, and to anonymize the data and widely disclose it to private researchers."

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