Hark Joon Lee¹, Richard Kang^2,3, Michelle Kim⁴, Justin Kong^3,5, Woo Jun Shim⁶, Kunmin Kim^3,7, Paul S. Chung³

Show more
¹ Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA.
² School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA.
³ Youth With Talents, Fairfax, USA.
⁴ Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Blacksburg, USA.
⁵ Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, USA.
⁶ Bachelor of Science in Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA.
⁷ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, USA.
Show less

Abstract: The Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel type of coronavirus-related disease that has over 4 million confirmed cases worldwide as of May 13^th, 2020. With over 200 countries impacted by the pandemic, many countries have taken drastic measures such as temporary closure of international borders. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the South Korean response to COVID-19 and the keys to successful containment of the disease. Real time analysis was performed on data provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Comparisons of disease containment among countries with the highest confirmed cases were normalized for population size differences by taking the proportion of confirmed cases to population size. We further compared the disease outbreak in Seoul, a very urban environment, to the whole country of South Korea, to compare public health in urban and rural environments. We found that the efficient partnership between the private sector and the state led to rapid development in testing kits, which was integral to the South Korean response to COVID-19. In addition, the South Koreans’ community spirit, approval of government-led interventions, and societal norm of wearing masks were also efficient social responses to the spreading disease. In this paper, we navigate the impacts of a universal healthcare system and its ability to battle infectious diseases and the efficacy of various governmental actions in response to a public health crisis.

Keywords: Infectious Diseases, Respiratory Viral Infections, Public Health, Disease Prevention

Cite this paper: Lee, H. , Kang, R. , Kim, M. , Kong, J. , Shim, W. , Kim, K. and Chung, P. (2022) The COVID-19 Outbreak in South Korea: Lessons to Be Learned. Advances in Infectious Diseases, 12, 298-311. doi: 10.4236/aid.2022.122024.

References

[1]   Sever Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
http:///www.cdc.gov/sars/about/fs-sars.html

[2]   Lee, K.M. and Jung, K. (2019) Factors Influencing the Response to Infectious Diseases: Focusing on the Case of SARS and MERS in South Korea. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16, 1432.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6518241
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16081432

[3]   Lee, J. (2015) Better Understanding on MERS Corona Virus Outbreak in Korea. Journal of Korean Medical Science, 30, 835-836.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4479933
https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2015.30.7.835

[4]   Lee, W., Ahn, D., et al. (2020) Case Study of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) Outbreak in South Korea and Future Implications. Advances in Infectious Diseases, 10, 76-89.
https://doi.org/10.4236/aid.2020.102007

[5]   Zhou, P., et al. (2020) Discovery of a Novel Coronavirus Associated with the Recent Pneumonia Outbreak in Humans and its Potential Bat Origin. Nature.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2012-7

[6]   Peeri, N., et al. (2020) The SARS, MERS and Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Epidemics, the Newest and Biggest Global Health Threats: What Lessons Have We Learned? International Journal of Epidemiology, 49, 717-726.
https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyaa033

[7]   Yan, B., et al. (2020) Presumed Asymptomatic Carrier Transmission of COVID-19. JAMA, 323. 1406-1407.
https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.2565

[8]   Sanche, S., et al. (2020) High Contagiousness and Rapid Spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 26, 1470-1477.
https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2607.200282

[9]   Petrosillo, N., et al. (2020) COVID-19, SARS and MERS: Are They Closely Related? Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 26, 729-734.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2020.03.026

[10]   Zou, L., et al. (2020) SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in Upper Respiratory Specimens of Infected Patients. The New England Journal of Medicine, 382, 1177-1179.
https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2001737

[11]   Chan, J., et al. (2015) Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus: Another Zoonotic Betacoronavirus Causing SARS-Like Disease. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 28, 465-522.
https://doi.org/10.1128/CMR.00102-14

[12]   Peiris, J., et al. (2003) Clinical Profession and Viral Load in a Community Outbreak of Coronavirus-Associated SARS Pneumonia: A Prospective Study. The Lancet, 361, 1767-1772.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13412-5

[13]   Zhang, Y. (2020) The Epidemiological Characteristics of an Outbreak of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Diseases (COVID-19)—China, 2020. China CDC Weekly.
https://doi.org/10.46234/ccdcw2020.032

[14]   The World Health Organization (2020) Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report.
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200317-sitrep-57-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=a26922f2_2

[15]   Choi, S. and Ki, M. (2020) Estimating the Reproductive Number and the Outbreak Size of COVID-19 in Korea. Epidemiology and Health, 42, e2020011.
https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2020011

[16]   Shim, E., et al. (2020) Transmission Potential and Severity of COVID-19 in South Korea. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 93, 339-344.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.03.031

[17]   Shin, H. and Yi, H. (2020) Secretive Church at Center of South Korea’s Explosive Coronavirus Outbreak. Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-southkorea-church/secretive-church-at-center-of-south-koreas-explosive-coronavirus-outbreak-idUSKCN20L0Q8

[18]   Korean Society of Infectious Diseases, et al. (2020) Report on the Epidemiological Features of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in the Republic of Korea from January 19 to March 2, 2020. Journal of Korean Medical Science, 35, e112.
https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e112

[19]   Kim, M. (2020) How a South Korean Psychiatric Ward Became a “Medical Disaster” When Coronavirus Hit. The Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/how-a-south-korean-psychiatric-ward-became-a-medical-disaster-when-coronavirus-hit/2020/02/29/fe8f6e40-5897-11ea-8efd-0f904bdd8057_story.html

[20]   Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2020) The Updates on COVID-19 in Korea as of 6 March.
https://www.cdc.go.kr/board/board.es?mid=a30402000000andbid=0030

[21]   Kim, C. (2020) As COVID-19 Cases Rise, South Korea Raises Virus Threat Level to Its Maximum. Vox.
https://www.vox.com/world/2020/2/23/21149540/coronavirus-outbreak-covid-19-south-korea-threat-level

[22]   Kotkin, J. (2020) After Coronavirus, We Need to Rethink Densely Populated Cities. Fortune.
https://fortune.com/2020/04/01/coronavirus-dense-cities-urban-rural

[23]   (2020) Seoul, South Korea Population. PopulationStat.
https://populationstat.com/south-korea/seoul

[24]   (2020) Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19). Our World in Data.
https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

[25]   (2020) COVID-19. Seoul.
http://www.seoul.go.kr/coronaV/coronaStatus.do?menu_code=01

[26]   Brazinsky, G. (2020) South Korea Is Winning the Fight against COVID-19. The US Is Failing. The Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/04/10/south-korea-is-winning-fight-against-covid-19-us-is-failing

[27]   Terhune, C., et al. (2020) Special Report: How Korea Trounced U.S. in Race to Test People for Coronavirus. Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-testing-specialrep/special-report-how-korea-trounced-u-s-in-race-to-test-people-for-coronavirus-idUSKBN2153BW

[28]   Fisher, M. and Choe, S. (2020) How South Korea Flattened the Curve. The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/world/asia/coronavirus-south-korea-flatten-curve.html

[29]   Kim, C. and Shin, H. (2020) South Korea Imposes New Coronavirus Travel Restrictions, Announces $29.5 Billion in Business Aid. Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-southkorea/south-korea-imposes-new-coronavirus-travel-restrictions-announces-29-5-billion-in-business-aid-idUSKBN21Q09N

[30]   Kim, E. (2020) How South Korea Solved Its Face Mask Shortage. The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/opinion/covid-face-mask-shortage.html

[31]   Lee, H. (2020) South Korea Takes New Measures to Have Enough Face Masks Domestically amid Coronavirus. ABC News.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/south-korea-takes-measures-face-masks-domestically-amid/story?id=69254114

[32]   Yonhap News Agency (2020) S. Korea to Evenly Supply Face Masks to Public, Ban Mask Exports: Prime Minister.
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200305002300315

[33]   Jung, M. (2020) South Korean Government Takes Full Control of Face Mask Supply, Bans Exports. The Korea Herald.
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200305000730

[34]   Cho, J. and Lee, H. (2020) South Korea’s Coronavirus Test Makers in High Demand. ABC News.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/south-koreas-coronavirus-test-makers-high-demand/story?id=69958217

[35]   Lee, G. (2020) Two South Korean COVID-19 Kits Look Overseas, Seek FDA Approval. BioWorld.
https://www.bioworld.com/articles/433937-two-south-korean-covid-19-kits-look-overseas-seek-fda-approval

[36]   Lee, G. (2020) South Korea Approves First Four COVID-19 Test Kits Under Urgent-Use License. BioWorld.
https://www.bioworld.com/articles/433783-south-korea-approves-first-four-covid-19-test-kits-under-urgent-use-license

[37]   Seoul Metropolitan Government (2020) Cities against COVID-19.
http://english.seoul.go.kr/covid

[38]   Cachero, P. (2020) WHO Investigates Reports of Recovered COVID-19 Patients Testing Positive Again. Science Alert.
https://www.sciencealert.com/who-investigates-reports-of-recovered-covid-19-patients-testing-positive-again

[39]   Andrews, J. (2020) Seoul’s Mayor Reveals How the City Is Tackling COVID-19. Cities Today.
https://cities-today.com/how-seoul-contained-covid-19