COVID-19: Public Access to Information – Legal and Institutional Frameworks

The current global pandemic of a coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 (hereinafter ‘COVID-19’) has caused unprecedented damage on a global scale. As of August 4, 2020, COVID-19 has infected over 18.6 million people and claimed the lives of over 700,000 worldwide, and no cure or vaccine has been made available to the public. The pandemic has also caused unprecedented economic and social damage:1 a number of countries have been compelled to adopt hard measures to control the pandemic, such as lockdowns and border closures, at substantial economic and social costs.2 Notably, this pandemic has claimed the largest number of lives in the most advanced countries, such as the United States (4,748,806 cases of infection and 156,311 deaths as of August 4, 2020),3 where advanced medical technology and resources are available. The high rate of infection and mortality in developed countries indicates that factors other than medical technology and technical capacity, such as laws and institutions designed to respond to the pandemic such as COVID-19, have a crucial impact on public health in pandemic situations. In some countries, legal and institutional reforms have enabled the governments to respond more effectively to the pandemic than others. For example, in South Korea (hereinafter ‘Korea’), the government was able to make a large number of tests available to the public in the early stages of the pandemic. The Korean government has also collected and provided timely information on the status of the pandemic to the general public and delivered speedy and effective health care to those infected with COVID-19. As a result, Korea has successfully contained the spread of COVID-19 and currently maintains a low mortality rate (five per one million) without having to resort to costly measures such as lockdowns and border closures.4 Relevant Korean laws, which are introduced in this chapter, have enabled and also required the government to respond rapidly and effectively to the pandemic. Laws and institutions are important in all areas relevant to the pandemic management, including public access to information, provision of timely and effective health care, and regulation of activities as necessary to control the pandemic. This chapter focuses on public access to information and introduces the best practices developed by Korea.