The Real Reason South Korea Was Able to Stop Covid-19

Political accountability is the missing ingredient

Disinfection professionals spray antiseptic solution in a classroom in Seoul, South Korea, on May 11, 2020, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus ahead of school reopenings. Photo: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

The real story of South Korea’s successful containment of the coronavirus begins with a disaster.

In the spring of 2014, an overloaded ferry carrying hundreds of high school students slow-motion sank en route to Jeju Island while a horrified nation watched the…