Wearing Masks in Korea for 100 Years... "Favorable Attitude Toward Mask Wearing"

[When Will Masks Come Off] 100 Years of Masks in Korea
Masks Appeared in Korea from Late 1919 as the Spanish Flu Ended
Active Mask Wearing on Gyeongseong Streets in Winter in the 1930s
Late 1960s Claims That "Masks Are Ineffective"

[Asia Economy Reporter Byeon Seon-jin] 'Pandemics repeat, and each time people wear masks. Then, as if nothing happened, they take off their masks.'

Looking at the 100-year history of masks in Korea, this has generally been the case. It usually happens when the fatality rate drops due to antibody formation, and fear of the virus naturally decreases.

After the first-ever administrative order mandating mask-wearing in Korean history due to COVID-19, the outdoor mask mandate was lifted on the 26th of last month, 682 days after its introduction. With a COVID antibody prevalence rate reaching 97% due to vaccinations and the fatality rate dropping to 0.11%, similar to that of the flu, many citizens began expressing fatigue from prolonged mask-wearing. On the 20th, Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong announced at the National Assembly audit that the indoor mask mandate would also be selectively lifted, raising expectations for a 'complete return to normal life.'

During the Peak of the Spanish Flu, Masks Were Not Worn in Korea

The origin of masks used for quarantine purposes is said to be the respirator invented by British physician Julius Jeffries in 1836. It is a device that covers the mouth or both mouth and nose to regulate air temperature and humidity, alleviating respiratory difficulties for patients with lung diseases and tuberculosis. Later, it became widely known as a preventive tool to block outside air. In East Asia, including Japan and China, masks were used by intellectuals and hospitals in the late 1880s when bacteriology spread.

The use of masks in Korea began later than this. Therefore, during the Spanish flu pandemic from early 1918 to late 1920, which infected 500 million people worldwide and caused 17 to 50 million deaths, masks were not distributed domestically. At that time, the United States had mandated mask-wearing, and China and Japan were already actively using masks following the pneumonic plague outbreaks of 1910-1911.

According to a 2017 paper by Professor Kim Taek-jung of Inje University Medical School titled ‘The 1918 Flu and the Quarantine Policy of the Governor-General of Korea,’ the Governor-General reported that during the Spanish flu outbreak in March 1919, an estimated 7,556,693 patients occurred among a population of 17,057,032, with 140,527 deaths. However, aside from counting infections and deaths, the Governor-General took no significant quarantine measures.

The period when masks began to be used in Korea for infectious disease prevention is estimated to be late 1919 to early 1920, as the Spanish flu waned. During winter epidemics of influenza, scarlet fever, and typhus, the Governor-General recommended wearing masks when going outside. By the mid-1930s, it was common to see people wearing masks on the streets of Gyeongseong (Seoul).

During the influenza outbreak in 1962, masks were also used as a preventive measure against infectious diseases. However, in the late 1960s, the medical community began to view mask-wearing habits as 'scientifically harmful,' which somewhat diminished confidence in the effectiveness of masks for quarantine at that time.

Koreans Became 'Accustomed' to Wearing Masks in the Late 2000s

The emergence of health masks and the normalization of mask-wearing in Korea occurred in the late 2000s. Due to the need to precisely block infectious disease viruses and particles like yellow dust and fine dust, masks were rated by the 'KF (Korea Filter)' standard. After experiencing the 2009 H1N1 flu and the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreaks, the government repeatedly launched campaigns such as the 'Mask Wearing Movement.'

Even before the government mandated mask-wearing on November 13, 2020, many people were already wearing masks, which is analyzed as a learning effect from previous mask-wearing experiences. According to a survey published in March 2020 by the research team led by Myung Yoom-soon at Seoul National University College of Public Health, the mask-wearing rate was as high as 97.7%. The absence of protests like the 'mask burning movement' seen in the US and Europe during the global spread of COVID-19 in 2020 in Korea is understood in a similar context.

Mask Removal Around the Time of Entering the Endemic Phase... But Indoor Mask Mandates Remain Restricted

However, as society moves toward recovery, public fatigue over the continued 'mask mandates' seems to be increasing. According to a survey conducted last month by Myung Yoom-soon's research team targeting 1,000 adults on 'indoor mask-wearing,' 55% of respondents believed that the mandate could be lifted immediately. The quarantine authorities have maintained the system of counting and announcing daily confirmed cases since the early days of COVID-19 but are now considering revising this approach. This is because COVID-19 is no longer as deadly as before and the healthcare system is functioning well.

The medical community agrees that COVID-19 will always exist but that the full lifting of mask mandates must happen at some point. The difference lies in when this should occur. Jeong Ki-seok, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters COVID-19 Special Response Team, said, "Even if the mask mandate is fully lifted, recommendations and promotions for mask-wearing should continue." Professor Jeong Jae-hoon of Gachon University Gil Medical Center's Department of Preventive Medicine, who believes partial lifting is possible immediately, said, "Essentially, not wearing masks was the norm. Even if the indoor mask mandate is partially lifted immediately, recommendations will remain and compliance rates will be high."

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