COVID-19 and the emergence of a level 2.5 society in South Korea

In this chapter, I aim to problematize an assumption that supports the success story of the K-quarantine model. The plot of this story is leaning towards the positive role of technocrats, scientists, and technology in fighting against COVID-19 by focusing on the activities of the KDCA (Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency) and appealing technological solutions. In this narrative, Korean society looks like a sterilized giant laboratory stuffed with scientists’ scientific rationality and well-organized research plans, which downplays another dimension that the government’s selection of policies is a politically and socially contested process - rather than a decision based on pure expert knowledge apart from society - that continues interactions with civil society and social actors situated in a specific spatio-temporal matrix. By paraphrasing the concept of spatial fix, I suggest that the Korean government’s social distancing level 2.5 measure should be seen as the imposition of another form of spatio-temporal fix. Consequently, I highlight the necessity of a more multi-scalar and multi-temporal approach to analyzing COVID-19 landscapes, rather than simply fixating on the “success story” from a singular and snapshot perspective close to the government’s position, which eventually opens up opportunities for more fundamental questions about society.