In a June 9 interview with the French daily Le Figaro, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo talked about aspects of Korean culture that helped speed up recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak. (Screen shot of article)

By Kim Young Deok and Lee Hana

Korea's bbali bbali (hurry, hurry) culture is the secret behind the country's rapid response to the coronavirus pandemic, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo said.

In a June 9 interview with the French daily Le Figaro, he talked about aspects of Korean culture that helped speed up the nation's recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak.

On bbali bbali culture, the minister said the development of this culture was meant to catch up with the developed world at an extreme pace by mixing elements from various places at a time when the country was politically and economically behind Western countries.

"It was thanks to this mindset that we could develop our drive-thru testing clinics, a method that limits the danger of infection," he added. 

Turning to Korea's response to COVID-19, the minister cited the government's three principles of openness, transparency and active civil participation in quarantine efforts. "From the earliest detection of infection cases, the government made public all information on the number of patients and those newly infected in a transparent way," he said.

"Korea never shut down its borders, though we did monitor all visitors. Korean cities never went into lockdown, and no restrictions were placed on people's movement."

The minister also discussed changes facing the culture sector in the post-pandemic era.

"This pandemic will also transform culture. We need to create a new life with limited physical contact," he said, "We call this 'untact culture,' and this will be aided by artificial intelligence, 5G technologies and other innovations related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

"Korea's ability to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak has boosted our credibility and reputation on the global stage," he said, adding that he hopes the nation's experience in responding to the pandemic will be shared with many countries.

kyd1991@korea.kr