The role of local governments in South Korea's COVID-19 response

Abstract

Research on COVID-19 responses has largely focused on national governments. Meanwhile, the crisis management literature has noted that such “transboundary crises” require collaborative responses. What role can local governments play? How do citizen perceptions matter? We look for answers in South Korea that has been considered a model case for managing COVID-19. We use data from policy briefs, news reports, and local government websites to show that local governments successfully implemented national initiatives while modifying them to fit local needs and also actively planned and executed local initiatives to address needs that the central government did not address. Based on 2020 national survey data (N = 16,258), we find that COVID-19 cases and deaths are linked to citizen perceptions of vulnerability to COVID-19 and its effect on wellbeing, but not to evaluations of other residents' responses (e.g. following mask mandates, social distancing) or local government responses.