Currently, the Korean government is encouraging vaccinations across the country and is wisely overcoming COVID-19 due to the high participation of the people in vaccinations. As of December 27, 2021, the inoculation completion rate is over 82%, and the booster shot rate is around 30%. Vaccination is the only way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to severe conditions (Yoon, 2021). More than half of the confirmed cases of Omicron mutations currently spreading worldwide have been reported to be unvaccinated. As a result, the government is focusing its total capacity on raising the vaccination rate for unvaccinated people and encourage tertiary vaccination. The government is re-implementing strong social distancing to reduce private gatherings and restrict indoor facilities for unvaccinated people. Like this, all citizens are focusing their efforts on COVID-19 quarantine (Hudnt, 2021).
Small business owners are once again working with the government to stop for a while and cooperate in quarantine in the process of returning to their daily lives. I think the Democratic Party of Korea should now show it through action. I suggest a nomination exclusion and nomination score deduction system for all non-vaccinated candidates except for medical reasons during the 2022 national and local elections. The Democratic Party has prevented COVID-19 as the ruling party representing the Republic of Korea for the past two years. Many people have been demanding participation in quarantine, and thanks to the cooperation and involvement of the people, we have successfully dealt with the pandemic compared to other countries. I don’t think it’s a duty for the people as an authorized party if they nominate a candidate who couldn’t even keep the basics of quarantine. The U.S. state of New York has adopted a mandatory civil service vaccine system and announced forging vaccine cards, up to one year in prison, three years in probation, and four years in jail for forgery of vaccination records. Election candidates are very likely to be exposed to the virus given their job nature, the intensity of connection to the public interest, and general contact. Also, as a public figure who wants to represent the Republic of Korea and the region, I think we should set an example for the people and follow the minimum basics for everyone who strives to prevent COVID-19.
I hope that the Democratic Party will once again be reborn as an authorized party by reinforcing quarantine and become a ruling party that will be a little hopeful for the people suffering from COVID-19.
Reference.
David, Hundt, (2021) South Korea’s development response to Covid-19, East Asia Forum, Published on December 28th 2021.
Dasl, Yoon. (2021) ‘Highly Vaccinated South Korea can’t slow down Covid-19’, The Wall Street Journal, Published on December 27th 2021
