ABSTRACT
A general description of what Korean government and civil society have done in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic is presented. In terms of duration, they employed passive governance for most of the time but proactive governance at every critical moment to overcome serious situations in their control work in 2020. The government as a contract state adopted 4-T strategies: test, trace, treatment and trust. However, every measure taken by the government was complemented and supplemented by the voluntary work of civil society and leadership being motivated by the traditional concept of familism and instigated by wartime culture. And such a success has brought a trust surplus to the government, which has suffered for a long time from perennial trust deficit. And positive evaluation from the international community about South Korea’s success also contributed to the upgrading of trust in the government and finally to the self-esteem of the people of South Korea themselves.
