{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T05:12:47Z","timestamp":1778649167951,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778630400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003645","name":"National Cancer Center of Korea","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["NCC-2310710"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NCC-2310710"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003645","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This narrative review systematically analyzes the longitudinal evolution of South Korea\u2019s legal and institutional frameworks from the 2015 MERS outbreak through the COVID-19 pandemic. The study introduces the \u201cPandemic Response Pentad,\u201d an original conceptual model positioning Legislation as the foundational core, mediated by Governance, to drive three interconnected field operations. Based on this framework, Korea\u2019s infectious disease control system is evaluated across four operational domains: (1) governance reform and personnel structure enhancement, (2) epidemiological response capabilities and data utilization, (3) medical response system, including vaccination programs and supply stockpiling, and (4) social response mechanisms, encompassing social distancing and the protection of vulnerable populations. While rapid legislative enactments enabled effective disease control, they also generated profound ethical tensions regarding fundamental human rights. To mitigate these unintended socioeconomic consequences, Korea institutionalized extensive statutory compensation mechanisms for healthcare facilities, small business owners, and vaccine injuries. The findings highlight that advancing national research infrastructure and establishing policy-oriented think tanks for future pandemic preparedness strictly require proactive legislative backing. Ultimately, this study provides valuable insights into the critical interplay between legal mandates and institutional resilience in global health crisis management.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1800597","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T04:44:52Z","timestamp":1778647492000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["COVID-19 legislative response and challenges in Republic of Korea"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Hyun-Young","family":"Shin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Family Medicine, Seoul St. Mary\u2019s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea","place":["Seoul, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Moran","family":"Ki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Cancer Center","place":["Goyang-si, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"COVID-19 Pandemic","author":"Mathieu","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref2","volume-title":"The Best and Worst Places to Be as World Enters Next Covid Phase: Bloomberg","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2126","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-024-19655-8","article-title":"Toward better pandemic governance and preparedness: South Korea's whole-of-nation approach to COVID-19","volume":"24","author":"Hong","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"ref4","volume-title":"2015 MERS Outbreak in the Republic of Korea: Learning from MERS","author":"Kim","year":"2016"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e2015033","DOI":"10.4178\/epih\/e2015033","article-title":"2015 MERS outbreak in Korea: hospital-to-hospital transmission","volume":"37","author":"Ki","year":"2015","journal-title":"Epidemiol Health"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"205","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2020.00205","article-title":"COVID19: a systematic approach to early identification and healthcare worker protection","volume":"8","author":"Zhao","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"510","DOI":"10.1097\/PHH.0000000000000787","article-title":"Public health resilience checklist for high-consequence infectious diseases-informed by the domestic Ebola response in the United States","volume":"24","author":"Sell","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Public Health Manag Pract"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1125591","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2023.1125591","article-title":"Construction of public health core competence and the improvement of its legal guarantee in China","volume":"11","author":"Huang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"ref9","volume-title":"Korean Law Information Center","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref10","volume-title":"Bill Information","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref11","volume-title":"COVID-19 Response White Paper","year":"2025"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1272572","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2023.1272572","article-title":"An overview and visual analysis of research on government regulation in healthcare","volume":"11","author":"Qi","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.18018\/hylr.2021.38.2.027","article-title":"A comparative study on legal institutions for COVID-19 countermeasure between Korea and Japan: focused on prevention of domestic spread of COVID-19 and countermeasure of public healthcare system","volume":"38","author":"Hwang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Inst Legal Stud"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"222","DOI":"10.1057\/s41271-022-00350-0","article-title":"Governments' accountability for Canada's pandemic response","volume":"43","author":"Khoury","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Public Health Policy"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"94","DOI":"10.36740\/WLek202401112","article-title":"Public management of public healthcare under the COVID-19 outbreak: experience of Ukraine","volume":"77","author":"Hrynzovskyi","year":"2024","journal-title":"Wiad Lek"},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"11109","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph182111109","article-title":"Malaysia's health systems response to COVID-19","volume":"18","author":"Ang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.29291\/kslm.2022.23.4.029","article-title":"Legal issues on the collection and utilization of infectious disease data in the infectious disease crisis","volume":"23","author":"Kim","year":"2022","journal-title":"Korean Soc. 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