Influence of COVID-19 on the socio-political situation in the Republic of Korea

Abstract

The article discusses factors that directly and indirectly affect the election process. Using the pandemic as an example, the authors show how relations between political authorities and population are developing under the pressure of crisis conditions, when political decisions either meet the needs of the population or contradict them, in the first case it creates a situation of stabilization, in the second - destabilization in the country. The evolution of population attitude towards the government at the beginning and during the spread of the disease has been changed, depending on the decisions made by the government, and influenced the results of the elections. It is emphasized that in the face of danger, it is possible to unite the nation and combine efforts with the authorities, however, as the situation worsens, the attitude towards the government increasingly depends on the measures that it takes in the process of social upheaval. The authors trace the chronology of events in South Korea during the pandemic, show the distribution of political forces, conduct a detailed analysis of the measures taken by the government, the legislative framework, and assess the degree of effectiveness of political decisions. The authors, in particular, highlight the fact that both the timely introduction of quarantine and its untimely removal, from voters’ point of view, had a direct impact on them, while the number of cases during the pandemic had an indirect impact on the election results. The role of the Korean mentality and culture is also mentioned, as far as it ensured a high level of unity of the nation, the voluntary restriction of personal freedom demonstrated a high level of freedom of the South Korean society as a result of a voluntary choice.