South Korea’s Year of COVID-19

Like much of the rest of the world, South Korea has experienced its share of ups and downs in the past year as it tackled the global COVID-19 pandemic. While South Korea’s early response, including expansive and thorough testing and contract tracing, drew praise from observers and prevented the wide-scale casualties that many other nations have experienced, the country has still struggled at times to keep the incredibly contagious disease at bay. As South Korea comes down from its third wave of COVID-19 infections and turns the page on a new year, it is worth looking back at how the country handled the pandemic in 2020, and previewing the still rocky road ahead.

Although kept to a reasonably manageable level compared to much of the world, COVID-19 cases in South Korea came in three distinct waves – the last of which is only now beginning to ebb. South Korea experienced its first wave of infections in late February and early March of 2020, before most of the world began seeing extensive spread. This was followed by months of relatively low case counts, with a slight bump in August that never reached above 500 cases per day. Near the end of the year, however, numbers spiked again, reaching record daily cases of up to 1,200 by the end of December. As of January 25, the total number of cases recorded in South Korea was 75,521, with 1,360 deaths according to data from the government.

South Korea’s ability to keep the virus at bay has been attributed to extensive testing, diligent contract tracing, and strict quarantine procedures for those traveling into the country.

Early on, most Koreans were united in condemnation of groups, including several churches, that facilitated early outbreaks and stymied contract tracing procedures. The head of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the center of South Korea’s first major outbreak in the city of Daegu, was charged but later acquitted over accusations of obstructing health officials’ ability to trace the virus’ spread after the church refused to provide full information to authorities about their followers and gatherings. Other charges against him, including embezzlement, stuck.

Tracing the spread of cases also became difficult at times during the second wave in the spring, when an outbreak at a gay club led to questions over the privacy of individuals who may have been exposed but who did not leave accurate contact information for fear of being outed.

Nevertheless, throughout 2020 South Korea managed to avoid any complete shutdowns, focusing instead on restrictions on certain types of gatherings and businesses. The government proved able to thread the needle between clamping down on cases while still allowing the economy to stay functional as much as possible – a major concern for many countries that considered or implemented full lockdowns last year.

However, the cracks in South Korea’s plan may be beginning to show. Although the country never locked down fully, they have intermittently placed various restrictions on certain businesses including restaurants, cafes, and gyms. Now, two organizations representing hundreds of gyms and cafes are filing lawsuits against the government asking for compensation for losses due to COVID-19 restrictions, which they say have been imposed unfairly.

In mid-January, the government decided to keep the Seoul area’s COVID-19 restrictions at Level 2.5 out of 3 until January 31, continuing the ban on private gatherings of more than five people, among other restrictions. However, amid the backlash from small businesses, some establishments including gyms, cafes, and cram schools were able to reopen within certain limits. Gyms had been closed since early December in Seoul during the third wave of infections, and coffee shops in the city had been banned from offering dine-in services since November.

These small businesses and their pushback against the government’s handling of the pandemic reflect growing concern over the potential for a K-shaped recovery of the Korean economy  where certain sectors will begin to bounce back while others remain burdened by a pandemic that is far from over. Unemployment is still a major issue, with monthly job losses in December hitting a 20-year high to cap off a year that saw the highest annual job losses since the Asian Financial Crisis. Jump-starting South Korea’s economic recovery– and ensuring it recovers for everyone – is therefore one of the Moon administration’s top priorities looking ahead into 2021.

The other key challenge for the Moon administration – as with many countries around the world right now – is procuring and distributing COVID-19 vaccines. South Korea has signed contracts with multiple companies – Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and AstraZeneca – in an attempt to cover all of the country’s 52 million citizens. President Moon Jae-in has also pledged that all vaccines will be free of charge to the public. Vaccination will start in February, and officials say they hope to have up to 70 percent of the population vaccinated by November, reaching what they say will be enough for herd immunity.

For many Koreans, though, the schedule is disappointing, especially as they watch the United Kingdom and the United States already rolling out some of their produced vaccines – including to American soldiers on Korean soil.

However, even if the vaccines were available for all immediately, the government might still face obstacles due to public skepticism about safety. According to a recent poll from Seoul National University, only 28.6 percent of respondents said they would be willing to immediately get the vaccine if it were available. The vast majority – 80 percent – said they would get vaccinated eventually, but most said they would wait and see how things go before agreeing to get inoculated themselves. This wariness could be due in part to misinformation spread widely last fall about safety issues with South Korea’s flu vaccine. While authorities say it’s true some people had died after getting a flu shot, they determined that the deaths were not at all linked. In response, high-level officials and politicians publicly got their flu shots to shore up public confidence – a move that officials in other countries have begun using with COVID-19 vaccines as well.

While South Korea weathered the COVID-19 storm better than most countries, it still experienced its share of highs and lows throughout 2020. In particular, the unequal impact and slow recovery for certain segments of the population are major concerns that will continue to remain at the top of the Moon administration’s priority list going into 2021. With less than a year and a half left in his sole presidential term, Moon must balance economic concerns – including long-standing issues like housing prices – with a speedy yet safe rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, all while continuing to keep the disease at bay long enough to achieve herd immunity. Needless to say, he has his work cut out for him.