Le Monde Highlights South Korea's Quarantine Focus: "Epidemiological Investigation Like Forensic Science"

On the afternoon of the 2nd, epidemiological investigation team staff from the Infectious Disease Control Division were busy working at Seoul City Hall.

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] The prominent French daily Le Monde has focused on South Korea's COVID-19 quarantine measures.

On the 9th, Le Monde dedicated pages 1 to 3 of its newspaper to articles introducing South Korea's epidemiological investigation system and quarantine rule management system. Le Monde explained, "South Korea conducts COVID-19 tracing like a form of scientific investigation," adding, "Through systematic and thorough tracking of movement paths, which may sometimes infringe on privacy, they have continuously succeeded in identifying COVID-19 patients."

The report also mentioned that while meticulous tracing by epidemiological investigators allowed South Korea to control the spread of COVID-19 to some extent, there were side effects early on due to the detailed disclosure of confirmed patients' movement paths. Le Monde evaluated, "The South Korean government corrected these mistakes, gained the trust of the public, and everyone still adheres well to the quarantine rules."

It also noted that the reason for South Korea's low number of COVID-19 deaths stems from the painful experience of the past Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak.

Le Monde reported that former President Park Geun-hye was impeached for failing to respond properly not only to the 2015 MERS outbreak but also to the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster, and that this led to "South Korean leaders always fearing failing to respond quickly and appropriately."

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