The German weekly Die Zeit on March 10 gave high marks to Korea's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The chart shows Korea ranked first in the economic growth indicator. (Screen capture from Die Zeit website)

By Elena Kubitzki and Lee Jihae

A leading German weekly has commended Korea's response to COVID-19.

In its March 10 article titled "How Germany is doing," Die Zeit compared the effects of Korea's COVID-19 response to those of other countries.

Six indicators were used to evaluate how the 36 member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development responded to the pandemic: number of deaths per 100,000 people, new infections, vaccination rate, newly unemployed, increase in national debt and economic growth.

Korea topped four of the six indicators: number of deaths, newly unemployed, economic growth and rise in national debt. It ranked second in new infections and 12th in vaccination rate.

Die Zeit said Germany (eighth) placed higher than France, the U.K., the U.S., Sweden and Israel but finished among the upper-middle rankings. Considering all the indicators, it added, Korea had the best response to the pandemic.

elenakubi@korea.kr