With the world on Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown and the United States on the verge of mass quarantine, one country has been holding out despite being neighbors with where the virus started. South Korea has proven to be holding out rather well in these turbulent times.
Some of the possible factors contributing to their success in stopping this is their culture, technology, and demographics. This is on top of the early preventive measures they took before Coronavirus became a pandemic.
Culture
“[Koreans] are generally very hygenic in everyday life.” Said Bill (Sungwoo) Kang, a Native Korean living in the US, “people do not act individually, but for the benefit of the family and the culture.”
He states that they are unique because they don’t necessarily follow the rules or laws set in place, but rather act on the culture itself and the focus of the collective. Another Unique aspect is that Korea has been invaded but has never directly invaded others. This, along with previous outbreaks has given and taught them to bond together in times of crises.
“The social constructions, from government to citizens, are based on Confucianism,” Said Glen Tromeur, an Asian studies major at BYU. “This gives them a sense of responsibility to society as a whole.” She goes on to say that Christianity is based more on love where Confucianism is based off of order and efficiency.
This is shown in how the government in Korea is also not doing mandatory quarantining for those without symptoms, but people are quarantining themselves anyway. Those who have the virus are required to stay put and face up to 3 million Won ($2,500) fine.
Technology
South Korea is the place to be for cutting edge tech and they are using this to their advantage. According to ABC and BBC, Korea has put to use thermal imaging in airports and major public areas to monitor for high body temperatures and fever. Implementing this procedure back in January at airports, if someone showed a higher than usual body temperature, they would pull them aside and test.
There is also the testing that they have created that is relatively cheap and accurate. Developing contingencies after the MERS outbreak back in 2015, they have been able to successfully test over 250,000 people according to the CDC. Compared to the states that only have the rate of 100 per million, the rate South Korea is testing is roughly 5,200 per million.
They have also implemented social media sharing to help stop the spread as well. According to Sciencemag, when someone is tested positive for coronavirus their cell phone, credit card history and a personal story are used to reconstruct their whereabouts. When they have a grasp on what the person has done they post this to social media apps with personal information stripped. This gives those who may have been around the person or area they were in the ability to screen and catch symptoms early.
Demographics
Korea also has a low population of elderly. According to a study done by the UN only 18.7% of the population is over 60 (the age most susceptible to the virus). The median age is 43; this puts most the population well below the danger mark in terms of age.
All of these are keeping South Korea fairly safe. Whether this holds out or not is yet to be seen, but so far they may continue to be one of the least effected.
