Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Old Walled Politics Or New Pandemic Peace? Lessons From South Korea’S Fight Against Covid-19, Seung-Youn Oh

Political Science Faculty Research and Scholarship

Among the global pandemic’s effects is the way it has exposed the re-emergence of medieval-style walled politics, where countries reject international or regional co-operation and retreat into nationalist, go-it-alone approaches. At the same time, the crisis has revealed unusual opportunities to forge common approaches to battling this invisible enemy. South Korea, as a middle power that stood out as an early success story in the pandemic fight, has played an important role in countering the politics of the past.