Israel’s BESA institute released an article on April 6, predicting that the process of responding to the coronavirus in South Korea and other Asian countries has been successful and that it will improve their soft power.

According to the article, the global health crisis precipitated by the coronavirus (COVID-19) requires a swift and dramatic increase in global transparency, collaboration, diplomacy, and communication. The pandemic is forcing a reconstruction of global priorities, agendas, and even the known order.

Within that context, South Korean president Moon Jae-in is pushing a public diplomacy campaign to elevate his nation’s brand by leveraging the information the country has accumulated since January 2020 on how best to respond to the crisis. South Korean data has proven essential to the crisis management programs many other states are now scrambling to assemble.

The coronavirus outbreak has led to an improvement in South Korea’s global image. The country, which reduced its number of confirmed coronavirus cases in early February 2020 just as case figures were dramatically escalating around the world, is perceived as a model of how to cope with the crisis. Impressively, the country has tested more than a quarter-million people at 600 testing sites nationwide—a capacity of 20,000 people a day. Not only are the tests much more numerous in South Korea than elsewhere, but results are sent to citizens by text within six hours.

Korean citizens played an essential role in the rise of their national brand by being the first to model “voluntary passive social isolation,” an element that was vital to the success of the government’s measures. Even before the government coordinated its message on social distancing, the people of South Korea embraced the need to close businesses even if that measure would incur personal financial hardship. Korean churches suspended services and moved online. According to one resident, “It’s less about protecting ourselves and more [that] we don’t want to spread this throughout the community.” This attitude is the opposite of what was seen in Miami, for example, where crowds of people flocked to the beach in total disregard of the danger of either being infected by coronavirus or passing it on to others.

South Korea’s aggressive, efficient, and fast testing has impressed countries around the world, around 117 of which are now importing Korean testing kits and medical equipment as their numbers of confirmed cases grow. Health ministries around the world are applying the Korean strategy to their own fights against coronavirus.

Asian companies, people, and governments bolsters their global reputation and will probably translate into more foreign investment. South Korea had a low score on the 2019 Soft Power Index (19th), but it will likely rise much higher after the coronavirus crisis passes.

On April 6, Reuters reported that South Korea’s new confirmed cases fell below 50, and that the response methods of the country against the virus are receiving praise from the World Health Organization.

Based on the report, South Korea reported fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases for the first time since its peak in late February, earning the praise of the World Health Organization for combatting the spread in one of the first countries to be hard-hit by the disease.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, held a 25-minute phone call with President Moon Jae-in, praising South Korea’s leadership in containing the virus, Moon’s presidential Blue House said.

Moon said in the call that South Korea was “willing to actively support other countries with prevention skills and supplies as the circumstances permit”. Moon said he recently had phone calls with about 20 global leaders.

Tedros proposed that Moon help support sub-Saharan African countries with virus-related supplies including test kits, the Blue House said.

Despite the praise from WHO and optimistic expectation, on Saturday, the government extended its intensive social distancing campaign by two weeks, citing the sustained small clusters of infections.

Starting on Sunday, the government toughened penalties for those who violate self-quarantine rules to up to 10 million won ($8,100) in fines or one year in prison from 3 million won ($2,400) in fines.

The U.S. magazine The Diplomat, which mainly deals with news from the Asia-Pacific region, reported on South Korea’s export of the COVID-19 diagnostic kits on April 9. According to the report, once an epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea’s success in containing the virus to date can mainly be attributed to widespread testing for the disease. As the situation is worsening globally, South Korea’s ability to send diagnostic kits abroad not only translates into immediate commercial gains, but helps to secure its long-term economic security more generally as well.

Last month, a total of 27 South Korean firms exported testing kits, including the five local biotech firms whose kits have emergency-use approval from Seoul. Collectively, they exported $48.6 million worth of testing kits, with prospects for April looking even higher. Over 120 countries have so far reached out to Seoul asking either to purchase tests or for them to be sent as humanitarian aid. In particular, the most notable of these requests came from U.S. President Donald Trump. On a March 24 call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Trump asked Moon for help with medical supplies, acknowledging these would first need to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Following the model of strong public-private sector cooperation initially adopted to address the virus, Seoul has stepped up its efforts to work with diagnostic test manufacturers to help keep pace with global interest. On March 26, various international and health-focused public agencies formed a special task force to monitor the domestic supply of testing kits and discuss details of overseas support. The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) is specifically looking to support businesses exporting testing kits and other related medical supplies. KITA plans to provide information to foreign governments regarding South Korean companies exporting medical supplies, though each will first need to undergo a screening process. As of April 6, 360 companies have applied.

Until a vaccine is discovered, tests like South Korea’s are seemingly the most effective way to curb the spread of the virus. Seoul has proven effective in shipping out COVID-19 diagnostic tests so far, but to make the most out of its current position – both for itself and the world – will require further cooperation with other governments and keeping the virus in check at home.

As a country who has successfully contained the COVID-19 without forced lockdown, South Korea has emerged as a main country exporting the virus diagnostic kits and medical supplies, which could contribute to flattening the curve of the COVID-19 worldwide.

South Korea reported fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases on Monday (Apr 6) for the first time since its Feb 29 peak as daily infections in Asia’s largest outbreak outside China continued to trend downward.

South Korea has largely managed to bring the epidemic under control for now, with around 100 or fewer new daily cases, but it was the first time the rate of daily cases dropped below 50.

“Our goal is to be able to control infections in a way that our health and medical system, including personnel and sickbeds, can handle them at usual levels,” Park told a briefing after a government meeting on the coronavirus.

Social distancing played a role in restraining domestic group transmissions by around 70 per cent during the first 11 days compared with the last 11 days before it took effect, Park said.

“It doesn’t matter that my country is stabilizing and coming to grips with this,” says South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, explaining the approach her country has taken to the coronavirus outbreak at a virtual World Economic Forum COVID Task Force meeting. “The world must overcome this together.”

Since its first confirmed case of COVID-19 in late January, South Korea has shown a determination in the face of the virus that appears to be paying off. From a sudden spike in the number of cases to its decision to implement widespread testing, South Korea has shown itself able to respond quickly and decisively.

“But you need to plan and to stay one step ahead,” says Foreign Minister Kang. “We took an all-government approach. The Prime Minister created a task force of all government ministries and, crucially, all regional and city governments, too – we are a very devolved democracy.”

Foreign Minister Kang also explains that being open with people and securing their trust is vitally important. “The key to our success has been absolute transparency with the public – sharing every detail of how this virus is evolving, how it is spreading and what the government is doing about it, warts and all.”

Unlike Italy, China, the UK and parts of the US, there was no lockdown in South Korea. It did, however, close its schools. There have been postponed attempts at reopening them, but reopen they must, according to Foreign Minister Kang.

“Even with schools opening, we realize it’s not going to be normal like things were before the coronavirus. Normal after the virus is going to look very different. This will be with us for a long time. So we all need to find a way to manage it at a status quo level.”

South Korea is the only country, so far, to flatten the curve of new coronavirus cases without resorting to extreme measures such as lockdowns. From new 909 cases recorded in a single day on February 29, new COVID-19 cases in South Korea dropped to 64 less than a month later, on March 23. As of Wednesday, March 25, the total number of cases in the country stood at 9,137 with 126 deaths and 3,730 recoveries.

Although Korea made headlines last month for being one of the countries with a large number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, the Korean government addressed the incident by putting the word TRUST into a whole new level. TRUST is characterized by Transparency, Robust Screening and Quarantine, Unique but Universally Applicable, Strict Control, and Treatment.

According to Korea’s Blue House, 17 nations have already asked for the test kits through government channels such as Korean government offices abroad and foreign government offices in Korea, while 26 other countries have asked Korea to send protective goods including the test kits or dispatch health officials. In addition, these urgent export requests, the test kit producers in Korea have also received direct calls about export from about 30 countries.

The rapid increase until last month in the number of confirmed cases in Korea was due to the government’s capacity to run up to 19,000 diagnostic tests per day and the intensive epidemiological analysis of high-risk groups. In the early phase of the outbreak, the government made hospitalization mandatory for all confirmed cases regardless of the severity of symptoms.

Although COVID-19 infection can manifest with little or no symptoms, the sheer diagnostic capability of the government made early detection possible, thereby providing treatment at the earliest possible stage, and increasing the likelihood of successful recovery.

According to the updated WHO recommendations for international traffic in relation to COVID-19 outbreak, evidence shows that restricting the movement of people and goods during public health emergencies is ineffective in most situations. WHO’s overall position is that excessive additional measures including entry bans need to be implemented very cautiously.

Also Under Article 43 of International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005), State Parties implementing additional health measures that significantly interfere with international traffic, including refusal of entry, are required to send to the WHO the public health rationale and relevant scientific information. This is something that, at the moment, the Korean government does not prioritize because the focus should be on addressing the diagnosis and treatment of the confirmed cases at the fastest possible time.

We are fully committed to sharing information, both domestically and internationally, in a prompt and transparent manner. South Korean’s domestic law (Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act) ensures the public’s right to be informed on the latest developments and responses to outbreaks and infection control. This openness and transparency have been pivotal in gaining public trust and high level of civic awareness, which encouraged the public to take voluntary self-quarantine and other preventive measures such as “social distancing” that has effectively slowed the spread of COVID-19. Public support and participation in the efforts to overcome the COVID-19 have materialized in civic activism nationwide.