On May 1, the United Nations (UN) reported how South Korea has succeeded in controlling COVID-19. In the article, the Director of UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Global Policy Centre in Seoul said its success is due to the citizen’s personal efforts and proper government’s action. Moreover, it reported that real-time information disclosure to the public, using regular government briefings, text notifications and apps, has played a key role in its success.

Stephan Klingebiel is Director of UNDP’s Global Policy Centre in Seoul, which fosters partnerships between the Republic of Korea and the developing world. He puts the country’s success down to self-discipline, effective measures and testing.

“Just a few weeks ago, family members and friends in Germany were afraid of my duty station. In the second half of February and early March, when the number of new confirmed Covid-19 cases peaked, South Korea seemed to be a real global hot spot. This impression has changed fundamentally: now, rather than being seen as an epicentre, South Korea seems to be an outstanding example of how to manage the crisis!”

Hye-Jin Park is a Communications & Partnership Specialist at the Centre. She says that, despite the good news concerning COVID-19, the Korean population remains vigilant.

“Thursday was the first time in 72 days that the number of local COVID-19 infections in Korea reached zero: even taking into account the “imported” cases, the number of confirmed patients has remained steady at around ten per day for the past two weeks.

However, it’s rare to see people without masks on, and the elderly, as well as families with young kids like myself, are staying at home as much as possible. Schools are closed, so my son opens his computer each morning to attend his online classes.

We all knew very clearly, thanks to the daily government news briefings, emergency alerts, web and mobile-based apps, and GPS trackers, what symptoms to be wary of, what to do and where to go for testing, which neighbourhood pharmacy carried masks that day, and which “infection locations” to avoid visiting.

This inundation of real-time public information is what has really helped South Korea throughout this crisis.