Effective Management of the Rapid Spread of the COVID-19 Virus in South Korea: Social and Institutional Learning from MERS

COVID-19 case management by South Korea shows that citizenship and evolutionary mechanisms of social and institutional learning have helped curb the spread of COVID-19. The painful experience of the MERS virus in 2015 pushed Korean society to improve the capacity of both health and quarantine systems. Korea’s initial response to COVID-19 stems from learning in both the civil society and government sectors. The experience of MERS created a social learning space for Korean society at large and an opportunity for institutional learning for the government. Social learning encourages good citizenship, the development of social capital, and community innovation, all of which help people respond nimbly to a viral epidemic. Institutional learning entails government reform and feedback, active administration, effective distribution of tests, effective tracing, and effective treatments.