under control without resorting to draconian lockdowns. Now the country faces the latest test of its resolve to keep normal life going during a pandemic: holding a national election.
South Koreans vote in parliamentary elections on Wednesday in a poll widely seen as a referendum on President
relatively liberal pandemic response, which has emphasised openness and voluntary cooperation in place of more coercive measures.
¡°The coronavirus crisis has opened up a black hole and all the other election issues have disappeared,¡± said Hong Deuk-pyo, a professor emeritus at Inha University in Incheon, about 30km outside Seoul. ¡°It will be an election about the coronavirus.¡±
The vote, the first major national election to take place since the novel coronavirus was identified in China late last year, will be a test case for authorities overseas facing thorny logistical and civil liberties questions ahead of their own elections in the weeks and months ahead.