Why Did Global Media Like CNN, ABC, and Le Monde Rush to Report on Seocho-gu's Quarantine Measures?

Amid the Global COVID-19 Pandemic, Foreign Media Compete to Report Seocho's Leading Quarantine Efforts... France: Major Daily Le Monde, Broadcaster TF1, National Radio Radio France International... USA: Global Broadcasters ABC, CNN... Denmark: Daily Jyllands Posten

CNN Seocho-gu Epidemiological Investigation News Broadcast Scene

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] While the world is facing a crisis due to the resurgence of COVID-19, Seocho-gu (Mayor Cho Eun-hee)'s pioneering quarantine system is gaining attention overseas.

Starting last month with the prominent French daily newspaper Le Monde, French broadcaster TF1, French national radio station Radio France Internationale, American broadcasters ABC and CNN, and Danish daily newspaper Jyllands Posten visited Seocho to observe South Korea's COVID-19 response.

Reports followed one after another highlighting the advanced screening facilities and excellent epidemiological investigations.

Mayor Cho Eun-hee introduced Seocho-gu's pioneering quarantine system in an interview with foreign journalists visiting Seocho-gu.

In particular, what caught the foreign media's attention the most were Seocho's epidemiological investigations and contactless screening clinics.

Seocho-gu is conducting epidemiological investigations centered on the ‘Rapid Response TF,’ a specialized epidemiological investigation team composed of medical staff and communication and IT experts for CCTV analysis.

The foreign press accompanied the actual epidemiological investigation site, visited the Seocho Smart Hub Center responsible for CCTV monitoring, and observed the entire epidemiological investigation process. Le Monde from France and ABC and CNN from the U.S. gave detailed and significant coverage of the epidemiological investigation process.

In particular, Le Monde highly praised Seocho-gu for conducting epidemiological investigations like a form of forensic science, noting that Seocho-gu carries out investigations based on various data such as QR codes and CCTV (closed-circuit television).

Unlike Western countries, which are extremely sensitive about privacy access and disclosure, American ABC and French Le Monde showed great interest in how Koreans sacrifice some privacy for the safety of the community.

In the interview, Mayor Cho said, “Rapid epidemiological tracing is possible because citizens actively cooperate with the investigations with mature civic awareness. We only disclose confirmed patients’ movement paths when necessary to minimize personal privacy infringement. Also, according to government guidelines, information disclosure about confirmed patients is limited to 14 days from the last contact with others, guaranteeing the ‘right to be forgotten.’”

The contactless screening clinic is a facility designed to minimize contact between medical staff and visitors in preparation for the second large-scale COVID-19 outbreak, enabling rapid testing of over 1,000 people per day. Foreign journalists visiting this site were amazed.

The Le Monde team praised, “This screening clinic is state of the art.”

ABC Seocho-gu Epidemiological Investigation Broadcast

American ABC also experienced the testing firsthand and reported, “It is amazing that you can get tested in less than 10 minutes in a non-face-to-face manner like this, and it is incomparable to any screening clinics I have seen so far.”

Additionally, in the foreign media interview, Mayor Cho Eun-hee introduced Seocho-gu’s proactive response methods, including ▲comprehensive testing of overseas arrivals ▲pooled testing method that tests samples from 10 people at once ▲introduction of AI fever-check robots at schools, terminals, and district office buildings ▲and support funds for the closure of multi-use facilities, which have attracted nationwide attention and become a benchmark.

Mayor Cho Eun-hee stated, “The whole world, including Korea, is struggling with the resurgence of COVID-19. Ending COVID-19 is impossible by the effort of one country alone; it can only be achieved by helping each other. I hope that the world will unite and return to life as it was before COVID-19 in the new year.”

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