ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 draws on lessons from the MERS experience that prompted the Korean government to formulate a crisis management governance. In the MERS crisis, hospitals, medical experts, and local governments played significant roles in detecting and treating patients, but their authorities and channels to participate in policymaking were ambiguous. This chapter points out that the noteworthy aspect of this governance is the division of roles between the Central Disaster Management Headquarters and the Central Disease Control Headquarters. From experiences such as the SARS and MERS crises, the importance of communication and collaboration came to the surface and revealed how the capacity of disaster response is closely related to the degree of preparedness. This chapter examines what lessons were learned and applied to the COVID-19 response in Korea.
