The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Korea occurred on January 20. Since then, Korea has rapidly increased the number of infected people to record the second largest number of confirmed cases in the world after China, but because of active and effective measures implemented by the Korean government, such as tracing, transparent information disclosure, contact tracking, and large-scale diagnostic tests, it has been able to slow the number of daily increase of the cases without large-scale lockdown. In this process, foreign media has focused on how Korea could control the virus, and Korea has become a global model in the process of the response for the virus.

France24, a French news agency, reported on the way of response for the virus in Korea in an article released on March 11 and emphasized that the Korea’s method could be a model for the countries battling against the COVID-19. According to the report, the methods including transparent disclosure of information and massive diagnostic tests have been effective to contain the spread of virus.

When one person gets a result of positive for the COVID-19, the officials trace the places where he/she has been for last two weeks and open the information to the public through websites and text messages, and also immediately disinfect the places. Moreover they also trace the people who have a contact with the infected and provide the test for the virus to all of them. With this process, they can find out the infected people in early stage even though they do not have symptoms. The article said that the early detection of the infected people has played a key role to tackle the spread of the virus.

The Guardians from the UK also reported an article titled ‘South Koreans keep calm and carry on testing’ on March 18, regarding the methods of aggressive diagnostic tests for the virus and contact tracking using the advanced technology in South Korea. According to the article, the Korean government investigates the route of the places where the infected person has been, using various information such as CCTV, credit card and mobile phone. Moreover, with tracing the path of the virus where it has come from, they can detect people who are likely to be infected and test all contacts.

In addition, the article also mentioned on the cost of testing for COVID-19 in South Korea. It said that the test is free of charge for people who traveled abroad recently, who contacted with the infected and who have been asked to get the test for the virus by doctors. And the cost of testing for those who are not included in this groups is 160,000 won, but if they get a result of positive, all the costs will be refunded and the government will also pay for the treatment.

An Irish news agency, RTE also mentioned the role of the advanced technology in South Korea in an article on March 29. As apps that indicate where the infected people visited have been developed, the public can use them to prevent themselves from the infections by avoiding the places, and also the information of smart phone and credit card is used for epidemiological investigations. In addition, it also reported on the way of management of people who are under self-quarantine through an mobile phone application. People entering South Korea from abroad have to install the application regardless of whether they have the virus, so the officials can know not only if they comply the regulations of self-quarantine by tracking their movement and also if they show symptoms by asking them to report on the symptoms such as fever and cough.

Various measures conducted by the Korean government, such as tracing the contacts and infection path, aggressive and massive diagnostic test, and using the technology for epidemiological investigations, seem to be effective to flatten the curve of COVID-19. While the number of new confirmed cases increased by hundreds at the end of February, it has decreased a lot now. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Korea has a total of 10,635 infected people as of April 17, but the daily increase of the cases has remained below 50 for more than a week.