Bringing the developmental state back in: explaining South Korea’s successful management of COVID-19

Abstract

South Korea had the largest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 after China by February 2020. This situation changed dramatically in less than two months as it effectively managed the pandemic without imposing a nationwide lockdown. Furthermore, Korean pharmaceutical companies quickly manufactured sufficient test-kits and other COVID-19 essential medical devices to meet domestic demand and exported them to more than one hundred countries, including developed countries, amid global shortages. What explains South Korea’s success story? Drawing on the developmental state concept, I argue that South Korea’s success story can be attributed to 1) the early creation of a health official-led pilot agency; 2) the government’s intervention for rapid production and export of medical equipment; 3) the distinct state-society relations. In doing so, contrary to the declinist literature, this study reveals that the Korean state’s institutional capacity has not declined. It also illustrates that the developmental state seems to be an effective system in dealing with a pandemic and promoting economic activities during the crisis. However, it is yet to be seen how Korea will deal with future challenges arising from the new wave. This study also suggests how the Global South can learn lessons from the South Korean experience.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• pandemic management
• south korea
• developmental state
• state-society relations
• regulatory state

Acknowledgments

I am grateful for the constructive comments provided by the anonymous referees of Third World Quarterly. I also wish to thank Kyunghoon Kim from King’s College London for his helpful suggestions. I also benefited greatly by teaching two special courses at Sungkyunkwan University: 1) Contemporary East Asian Politics and Economy; 2) Comparative Thought and Culture: Horizons East and West.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For a detailed elaboration of positive feedback effects on institutions’ path-dependent evolution, see Pierson (1993) and Thelen (1999). For a case study on how positive feedback effects enhance and entrench an existing institution’s influence over time, see, Busemeyer and Thelen (2020).

2 It should be noted that Evans stressed both "autonomy" and "embeddedness" to define the developmental state. See Evans (1995, 12).

3 For the concept of developmental mindset, see Thurbon (2016) and for Korea’s economic statecraft, see Thurbon and Weiss (2021) and Weiss and Thurbon (2020).

4 See, Hundt (2015, 466). On this point also see, Haggard and You (2015).

5 Interview, Seoul, April 2020.

6 Interview, Suwon, April 2020.

7 Interview, Seoul, May 2020.

8 Interview, Seoul, May 2020.

9 Interview with test-kits manufactures, Seoul, Suwon, Daejon, May 2020.

10 Interview, Seoul, April 2020.

11 Interview, Seoul, April 2020.

12 Interview, Incheon, May 2020.

13 Interview with a Seoul-based polling agency, Seoul, April 2020.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rajiv Kumar

Rajiv Kumar is Research Professor at the Institute of Indian Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea. He also teaches at the Department of East Asian Studies, Sungkyunkwan University. Kumar has been an Affiliate Scholar at the East-West Centre in the United States. He has recently published work on political economy and international relations.