03-03 South Korea

It was at the Gala dinner during the 1977 International Symposium On Small Business in Seoul, South Korea. And I was seated opposite a high profile business leader. At his sides were his wife and concubine. Both in the most beautiful traditional dresses. According to my translator, the special hair comb lets you know which one is the wife.
And then in came the senior government minister and guest speaker, carried on a throne, and then seated at a table a foot higher than anyone else. All Koreans bowed deeply.
A similar function was held in Seoul in 1990, and the city over the years had been transformed into a great modern metropolis. But the culture had not changed. A focus on harmony, a love for history and traditions, and a respect for authority.
A few things had changed. No one showed up with their wife and concubine. And the government minister walked in on his own steam. I sat next to him at the same level.
It is an amazing society, and it is no surprise that they have been global leaders in the treatment of the Coronavirus.
It started with early actions by the government that had put strong testing and protective equipment in place after their experience with MERS in 2015, or the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The quality of their test kits has given them an export product.
What is so interesting about the lessons learned from Korea is that if a nation has the testing regime in place it can deal with a pandemic without the monster lockdowns that shut down the economy.
And like other nations that have taken a lead in fighting the virus, the technology is in place to do all the necessary contact tracing to determine who else might have been effected.
Love the photo of streets being sprayed in Seoul. Everything points to a nation prepared for a pandemic.
The important Korean story is that a federal election was held during the pandemic. The turnout was massive. And all voters were required to wear masks and have their temperature taken before entering the voting booths.
President Moon Jae-in and his centre-left Democratic Party were given a landslide victory. And this happened without the President ever showing up at the daily pandemic briefings of his infectious disease experts.
Political leaders around the world will be paying attention to the Korean experience. Move quickly, have the ability to test on a massive scale, and do follow-up contact tracing. And, most importantly, stay in the background.
For those nations who didn’t move quickly and smartly, like the United States, a lot of people have died and will continue to die.