Asia-Pacific, Coronavirus, International Relations Watch Now: South Korea’s Response to COVID-19: Lessons for the International Community

Just one week after taking office as the Republic of Korea's forty-sixth Prime Minister, Chung Sye-kyun confronted what would turn out to be one of the most urgent global crises of the twenty-first century: the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the first countries wracked by this deadly new virus, South Korea acted swiftly to contain COVID-19 and protect its citizens. Prime Minister Chung oversaw the national policy response, which included expanding contact tracing capabilities, devising detailed social distancing and quarantining guidelines, and making public testing easily accessible. While South Korea has not escaped the pandemic unscathed, this effective response meant that its death and infection rates remained relatively low compared to many other countries around the world.

What informed South Korea’s effective approach to the pandemic? How did its national COVID policy evolve over time? And how might its response serve as a global model for managing the next pandemic? Watch this Moon Family Distinguished Lecture with Prime Minister Chung, who shared his experiences leading South Korea’s trailblazing pandemic response.

(Please note that Prime Minister Chung will provided his remarks via an interpreter.)

This video is provided with clean closed captions.