People wearing face masks walk past the "I.Seoul.U" sign near Seoul City Hall in central Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Hakim Djaballah





The American politician Benjamin Franklin once said, "By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail," while the French scientist Louis Pasteur added, "In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind."



Geographically, South Korea is in a vulnerable location to many global health threats from emerging viruses such as SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and now SARS-CoV2. Having experienced the global SARS threats in 2002, the country only registered three confirmed cases, with no deaths, over a period of almost one year.



Unscathed and believing that the traditional staple kimchi was responsible for the good fortune and outcome, the government fell short of initiating and investing in a thorough preparedness initiative with appropriate expertise, enhanced surveillance and application of the most effective control measures in case the country was threatened again with another viral attack.



During my tenure as the CEO of the Institute Pasteur Korea, my program called for two new major development areas requiring additional support from the government: training and preparedness for emerging threats, especially in view of the climate changes leading to the emergence and re-emergence of several pathogens.



I recall many discussions with government officials, especially at the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, with members of the National Assembly, the Governor of the Gyeonggi Province and his staff, and with members of the Gyeonggido Assembly seeking additional support to execute the strategy and bring on board international expertise to help with the mission.



What transpired was unprecedented. Instead of providing support and help to achieve the training and preparedness goals of our mission, the doors were shut with no additional support. There was a surprising reduction in the institute's budget approved by the National Assembly and no more funding could be expected from the provincial Gyeonggido Assembly.



These government officials and politicians did not view training and preparedness as critical to safeguard the country's national security and to protect the thriving economy; they must have felt that financial support should go elsewhere and, certainly, not to be given to a foreign research institution with a not-so-welcomed mission.





President Moon Jae-in, left, and his predecessor Park Geun-hye / Yonhap