Although South Korea’s response to COVID-19 has received international
praise, the nation’s public health policy raises numerous privacy concerns, with a
growing number of civil society groups joining the conversation. Following changes
to public health law in 2015 in response to the MERS (Middle Eastern Respiratory
Syndrome) crisis, South Korea’s KCDC (Center for Disease Control) reconfigured its
enforcement practice with measures tied to the movements of infected patients. New
laws allow for the use of information communications technology and personal data
(cell phone, CCTV, credit card transactions) to track patients, thereby identifying the
possible routes of transmission for disease. Through mid-April 2020, this system
received extensive praise, but more recently, with the “Itaewon Cluster,” centered in
a popular nightclub district, citizens are starting to raise concerns. Itaewon is associated
with prostitution due to its legacy of proximity to an American military base, and by
extension, the presence of foreigners in general, including LGBT clubs. While contact
tracing promises to preserve the anonymity of data, the significant rise in case numbers
since May 2020 has resulted in calls for targeting these groups—foreigners, LGBT,
English teachers—suggesting that xenophobia and social stigma continue to represent
powerful forces.