Problems and Policy Directions for Crisis Management: Lessons from MERS in South Korea

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study examines the problems of the crisis management system and how to manage the crisis in the future, focusing on the MERS case, which caused huge damage to the whole nation of Korea in 2015.

Based on the problems derived from this study, the direction of the infection control policy is as follows.

First, the government should place an effort to enhance public trust. These days, our society is highly unreliable due to polarization, and the credibility of the government is very low. When a crisis occurs in a low-confidence situation, it is impossible to achieve an effective risk communication. Therefore, every aspect of society should strive to promote trust in government through various policies(Kim, 2015: 106). Trust is an important social capital in national crisis management. Unreliable governments can't overcome the crisis.

Second, the very first response to disasters is directly related to the number of casualties in a crisis situation. The government should consistently present concrete and practical information and action rules related to the people through various channels based on quick and accurate analysis in crisis situations such as infectious diseases. Except for information that should not be disclosed, information should be disclosed and people should have a chance to participate and cooperate in response. This can be an important mechanism for resolving the various elements of conflict and uncertainty in the policy process of democratic society. In addition, the policy process should perform constructive feedback functions and should act as a mediator or mechanism to resolve the problem of recognition and preference disagreement between the consumer (citizen) and the supplier (government) of the policy(Lee, 2015: 91).

Third, the principle agent of control tower must be clear. To manage systemic infectious diseases crisis, it is necessary to reorganize the role between central government and local government in case of infectious diseases, and to strengthen the capacity of infectious disease management by local governments themselves, and establish an organic cooperation system with central government. In addition, in the event of a serious crisis, the specialist pool that has been established should be operated to prevent the fall of Golden Time.

Fourth, the emergency room culture needs to be changed. It is necessary to improve things that are problematic in the transmission of infectious diseases in our society, such as cases of finding a university hospital with a simple cold, visit patient culture, and poor emergency room environment. This point needs to be emphasized in the media and schools.

In addition, it is necessary to maximize the capacity of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, local governments and medical institutions, which are the three main subjects of infection control.