South Korea is likely to emerge from coronavirus a strong beacon for democracy
By Max Walden
Posted 1dday ago, updated 1dday ago
A fan of K-pop boy band BTS takes a selfie at a cafe decorated with their merchandise in Seoul.(Reuters: Kim HongJi)Share
As China seeks to promote itself as a good global citizen benevolently helping other countries fight COVID-19, it has competition from a much smaller, democratic rival — South Korea.
While China drastically reduced its infection rate by implementing strict lockdowns on hundreds of millions of people — with its Wuhan measures described as 'draconian' and even enforced by drones — life for many in South Korea has more or less rolled on as usual.
Similarly, Vietnam's astonishing success has required deeply illiberal means, such as forced quarantine of all suspected patients, and other methods impossible to implement in any serious democracy.
But like Australia, South Korea has a transparent and open system of government that has managed the crisis with relatively few deaths.
It hasn't always been smooth. On Thursday, South Korea reported 79 new cases, its highest in two months, while more than 200 schools were forced to close just days after re-opening.
Despite the fact that it was hit early on by COVID-19 and the recent spike in cases, South Korea's approach has meant that despite more than 11,000 cases its deaths remain below 300.
"The current Korean Government, just like Australia, they want to balance between China and the US," said Jay Song, a senior lecturer in Korean studies at the University of Melbourne's Asia Institute.
"But the US is not really presenting as a role model in the context of COVID-19."
Already a cultural powerhouse in Asia, South Korea's effective approach to battling coronavirus could see its political clout further expanded in the region and beyond.
'Twice a week I go to a restaurant that's full'
After a spike in initial cases early on in the pandemic, South Korea managed to drastically reduce new cases and flatten the curve.
Disinfectant is sprayed as a precaution against coronavirus at a South Korean market on February 24.(AP: Lee Jong-Chul/Newsis)Authorities took a proactive approach to testing, tracing and treatment, facilitated by its world-leading technological capabilities and public healthcare system.
As a result, the country has never had to shut its borders.
"Korea has tried to remain as open as possible by responding proportionally to the risk assessments of experts instead of outright closing the border," said Sangwoo Hong, South Korea's Consul-General in Sydney, in a statement.
While cases have recently started to grow — linked to a cluster associated with a Seoul nightclub — this is testament to how lax social restrictions have been. Unlike in Australia, no strict lockdown has been enforced.
Tim Forrester is originally from Tamworth and has lived in South Korea for six years.
Australian expat Tim Forrester enjoys a meal at a restaurant in Suwon, South Korea, on Friday night.(Supplied)"Everything's just gone on fairly normally — cafes and everything. They move tables and everything, but they stay open," he told the ABC from Suwon, a city half an hour outside of Seoul.
"Twice a week I go to a restaurant that's full.
"Here mostly everybody seems to go to work. Randomly, if there was an outbreak in their neighbourhood, they would go home for a week and work from home.
"You have to wear a mask on the subway, and in taxis starting this week. But we've still got a life outside."
South Korea even managed to hold a successful national election in April, with voters turning up to polling stations in person.
About 2,800 coronavirus patients were allowed to vote by mail or in person, using special booths in the South Korean election.(Reuters: Kim Hong-Ji)The effective response of President Moon Jae-in's Government to the epidemic saw his centre-left party win a romping absolute majority in Parliament.
Democracy and COVID-19
For Dr Song of the Asia Institute, South Korea's democratic system has been key to its approach. Particularly in the context of April's national elections, she said, the Government had to be responsive.
"The Government had to be responsible, the major political party has to be responsive to the citizens' needs and their demands around public health and hygiene."
South Korea has relaxed social distancing rules as a result of waning coronavirus cases.(AP: Ahn Young-Joon)While some Western media outlets have emphasised the cultural aspects of East Asian countries' success, such as the Confucian value of obedience to authorities, Dr Song said this has been "overplayed".
"South Korea kicked out three presidents, including the last one, who was involved in a scandal," she said.
"Koreans do not follow orders. They're often very revolutionary or rebellious against the aristocratic class and elites."
South Korea this month marked the 40th anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju uprising, where pro-democracy students were shot by government soldiers, leading to widespread revolt by civilians.
President Moon Jae-in speaks during a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of South Korea's popular uprising at May 18 Democracy Square in Gwangju.(AP: Jung Yeon-Je)President Moon said that the subsequent democratic movement, which overthrew the country's military dictatorship and installed parliamentary democracy, was an answer to "the call of the dead".
K-diplomacy in the coronavirus era
South Korea's Foreign Ministry has released a guidebook detailing its successes in combatting the virus while also keeping society and its borders relatively open.
Keeping a lid on the virus in the national capital Seoul — which has the population density of 17,000 people per square kilometre compared with Canberra's 444 people — has been no easy feat.
The Government of metropolitan Seoul has established a website in English to share its principles of disease prevention and control.
This includes setting up more than 600 dedicated screening clinics, a sophisticated quarantining system it calls 'K-quarantine', and even providing high-quality face masks to international students and foreigners without health insurance.
"The global COVID-19 pandemic has been a wake-up call for us to realise that we are all living together on one planet," the site reads.
Next week, Seoul will host a Cities Against COVID-19 global summit to facilitate sharing of best practice among the world's mayors and public health experts.
Seoul's Government wants to promote its COVID-19 response internationally.(AP: Lee Jin-Man)The Korean Government is putting money where its mouth is, donating test kits, personal protection equipment (PPE) and other medical gear to poorer nations from Indonesia to Mozambique, Mongolia to the Philippines.
South Korea's testing kits have also been in hot demand from other advanced economies grappling with the pandemic. The hard-struck US in particular has looked to its Korean allies.
US President Donald Trump appealed to Seoul in April, with South Korea sending kits able to conduct up to 750,000 tests to the United States. Earlier this month, it sent 2 million face masks stateside.
Harry Harris
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A BIG thank you to ROK and @TheBlueHouseKR for providing 2 million face masks to @fema. Our alliance and friendship are as vital and ironclad today as it was 70 years ago. #ThankYouROK #WeAreInThisTogether
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Western countries including Australia have, meanwhile, rejected some PPE made in China over concerns it is faulty.
"An alternative Asian democratic model has emerged out of this pandemic," said Dr Song, who added populations are "looking for good governance in dealing with this public health crisis".
"I'm positive Korea can suggest a new alternative model. It's not a Western power, it's not in the Commonwealth system.
"But politically speaking, Australia and South Korea are pretty much in the same situation."
"Both Korea and Australia are leading middle powers in the Asia Pacific," Consul-General Hong told the ABC.
"Korea and Australia's bilateral relations have developed into one of the most cooperative partnerships in ensuring continued peace and prosperity in the region."
Leveraging Beijing's soft power weaknesses
China has the world's largest population at 1.4 billion, the second largest economy, and the largest military.
But in terms of soft power, its influence is lacklustre.
The Soft Power 30 Index by communications consultancy firm Portland, ranks China at 27, below Greece and the Czech Republic.
In South-East Asia, where there is a history of discrimination and even violence against naturalised ethnic Chinese populations, scepticism is growing about what many see as aggressive 'debt trap diplomacy' from Beijing.
This was epitomised recently by Thais banding together with Hongkongers and Taiwanese as the 'Milk Tea Alliance' in an online trolling war against Chinese ultranationalists.
More than 200 schools were forced to close just days after re-opening.(AP: Lee Jin-Wook Via Yonhap)By contrast, with a population of just over 51 million, South Korea is punching way above its weight.
In March, as the global implications of the coronavirus pandemic were becoming apparent, K-Pop supergroup BTS topped the US Billboard charts with its single On — a feat unimaginable for artists from mainland China.
Many argue that weak responses from Western democratic giants US and UK could tarnish the appeal of liberal forms of government — especially in Asia where there is already a severe democratic deficit.
Seoul's management of the crisis, which has received widespread international praise, has been a further boon for South Korea's international image.
Throughout the pandemic and beyond, in an era where dangerous populism and authoritarian tactics are on the rise, South Korea is likely to prove a formidable democratic force in Australia's region.
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