By Xu Aiying and Lee Jihae

The government has hit back at a column published in the French business daily Les Echos that criticized Korea's tracing of the movements of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and basing its quarantine system on such tracing.

Posted on April 6 under the title "COVID-19 and tracking: let's not sacrifice our individual liberties," the column said Korea is "second" in the world in "surveillance and denunciation."

The author, lawyer, Virginie Pradel, opposed France's discussion of adopting a system similar to Korea's that traces the movements of confirmed cases. She mentioned Taiwan and Korea's arrangement of tracing devices and said the "two countries are not models in terms of respect for individual freedoms" but rather the "worst."

Korea has "long since set aside individual freedom," she added. 

The Korean Embassy in France immediately complained to Les Echos and John Hae-oung, the director of the Korean Cultural Center in Paris, on April 14 sent a rebuttal to the daily under his name.

"The South Korean government and citizens are very committed to the fight against the virus," he said, adding that "all measures taken are based on laws" and "approved by Korean citizens." He added that measures in Korea are implemented under close cooperation with specialists, parliament and civil society. 

He said calling Korea the world's No. 2 nation in surveillance that disregards freedom is "regrettable" and a "distortion of information."

Social media also criticized Pradel's column, with some calling it groundless prejudice. In her clip "Is South Korea a dictatorship?" (Corée du Sud dictature?) posted on April 13 on the YouTube channel "French Woman Laure," a French woman blasted Pradel's argument that Korea is infringing on individual rights by tracing their locations because the country is a dictatorship, saying Korea is saving lives.

xuaiy@korea.kr