How Koreans Feel About Social Distancing [Street Interview] | ASIAN BOSS

Asian Boss (Asia)

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the entire world is trying to implement what we call “social distancing,” which is outlined by the CDC as staying at least 2 meters from others, not gathering in groups, and staying out of crowded places/ avoiding mass gatherings (CDC). This entails decreasing outings with friends and more or less staying at home as much as possible. Living in one of the leading nations in the fight against this pandemic, South Koreans tell us how they feel about social distancing and how it has affected their lives. 
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 #COVID-19 #CulturalDifference #AsianBoss

225 comments

    1. Not being mean on purpose but for real, some fat people have fat that press into their lungs so it’s harder to breathe. It’s tough enough to find enough breath to talk with a mask on even without fat squeezing your lungs. So I do kind of understand her but she’s still wrong to risk Charli by leaving her nostrils open.

    1. I’m a Korean living in Gyeonggi-do.

      A few days ago, I went to a restaurant two hours away by car.

      There was no cross-regional lockdown.

      However, you should be careful not to get infected so that the government and medical staff do not suffer damage.

      Basically, you should wear a mask and avoid crowded places.

      There is no big difference in daily life except wearing a mask.

    1. Angelika No, longer distances are a concern when in a confined space for an extended period (not 5 minutes) with an an infected person, especially one who is coughing without a mask. This actions in this video are negligibly more dangerous than staying locked in your house.

  6. People whining about staying home and watching Tv, while there’s people doing a 70-80hrs week, risking their own life every single day trying to save others…

    4. All I hear is my dad and his gf say it I’d because of 5G and has been created to kill us and that they’re losing their freedom even though my country the Netherlands barely does anything. Fun people to be around when I’m someone with a weak immune system worried about getting sick; 🙄🙄

  7. Not all people do social distancing i saw every saturday in guro market so many people not doing social distancing..and not all people is wearing mask now adays maybe because no new case in daegu now and confirmed cases become less bt they forgot that before the cases become 10k+ its only 30 cases bt after patient 31 came it become 10k+. i hope government will do something about this.. me i didnt go out alot because im scared to get the virus im in 20’s bt i have a asthma

    3. The number is increasing now in Japan and the government demands people not to travel to other prefecture since golden week is coming but I think the government should do lockdown here because some people from Tokyo or other big cities that have high infection rates use this time as chance to take a break from their busy work life and go travel to other province or rural area to avoid this mess

  9. As long as there’s no vaccine available, social distancing and mas wearings should be mandatory, even in Korea and Taiwan where COVID-19 appears to be under control.

    2. @Rob Carnage The current level of social distancing may be too much if extended indefinitely. But until treatment is available and vaccine is 99% proven to be effective & safe, it may be wise to continue practicing some kind of social distancing even after the pandemic settles down. Continue to wear mask and frequently disinfect your hands especially before touching your face/food, before/after skin contact with others, and after touching public objects. Also avoid crowds of too many people.

      I was very careless about hygiene. But now that I practice it, it’s not difficult nor does it hinder my usual activities. I really don’t wanna take chances and infect my parents.

    3. Vaccines aren’t the only thing that will help us 🙄 especially when they’ll take a while to come unless they can advance it(rushing won’t help tho) , repurpose one etc. Treatments are the things we need right now the most, to treat the people that are getting sick and to gives us reassurance that we can go outside knowing there’s way to treat it.

  11. there are STILL people out and about? you should have done this in the beginning of march when the streets were empty. now people are out and about AGAIN. the restrictions are planned only until tomorrow. the numbers are so low by now that people are less concerned. and looking at the numbers it totally makes sense and does still seem to work with even more and more poeple going out each day. you cannot compare korea to europe or the us right now.

    1. Although Korea has been seeing fewer cases compared to the US and some european countries, I still think its best to avoid crowds and social gatherings to prevent a 2nd outbreak and its actually kinda sad to see people still going out to drink and have a picnic at the park😔😔

    3. This could have been filmed a week or two ago. If she did it when the streets were empty, who would she have interviewed? They’ll probably do another one after the the restrictions are lessened. Of course you can’t compare this with US or Europe, this was to see what it was like and what people are thinking in South Korea.

  14. Asian Boss, you might want to consider using selfie stick when you conduct street interviews. I don’t think Charli’s arm is long enough 😉

  15. A majority of Americans cannot find masks as they have been given to the medical fields, I tried ordering from Amazon and they were listed as available in the USA, then when I looked at the delivery date it was in June which means they were coming from China, I canceled my order as we will probably not need them in June. As the saying goes a Day Late and A Dollar Short!

    1. I think this is going to last longer than June, at least in the US. I heard that a vaccine is in the works but it’s currently in clinical trials. Not to mention, it’s not going to be administered to the public until next year.

  16. Over here Social distancing is only 1 meter away from the other person . We would like to follow your guidelines about 2 meter it’ll be more safe for us.

  17. @0:11 SK Govt requesting Social distancing but it seems peeps still out and about? Well duh Social Distancing is NOT LOCKDOWN.

    My GF did like the work from home rule only so she can smoke anytime she wants…

  19. The fact that South Korea is actually much better off than most countries in terms of infection and lethality rate even without lockdowns shows just how effective their governments testing and tracking measures have been.

    In Australia, we have been in complete lockdown for about a month, social distancing is rumored to continue for another year, police are giving $1600 on the spot fines to anyone caught breaking social distancing, students are suffering, and almost all small businesses are being crushed. Despite all this, our daily cases are still increasing by about 9% in my state, and its likely only a bandaid solution. Just goes to show how far behind western countries are…

    2. south korea and taiwan , both countries succeeding so far have experiences with this in the past…so they were ready even before they had 1 covid19 case. Also they knew that wearing masks was very important from the get go.

    2. @Robopecha doesn’t mean that the video was filmed after, post production might’ve taken a while and it was filmed days or weeks ago

  22. Wow and here’s me scared to go for a walk around the block 😭😭 quarantine sucks 😔 but wouldn’t put my parents at risk for a stupid morning walk anyway…

  23. I live in NYC and most of us have followed social distancing. It’s working. I’m also very proud of our governor and mayor of how they responded to the crisis. Can’t say the same about the Trump administration except for the health experts. Because the fact Trump downplayed the situation despite the warnings from the intelligence community in January, America is where it is today. Hopefully Trump is voted out this November.

    1. Cuomo is doing a great job! I love the way he tells it like it is. Gives the facts, and is not afraid to correct Trump unlike so many others.

    3. @BC Bob No. According the the NYT the virus came from Europe and began spreading in NYC. Trump said banning flights from Europe was too much despite the situation in Europe getting worse.

    4. @Hornet135 He was right in the sense there was little cases but when it spiked in Late February in some areas, the US was unprepared and by March it found itself completely just not able to help and left the states on their own to deal with the situation.

    2. Singapore just reported a resurgence of new cases this week and they’re on lockdown like most countries; Taiwan and South Korea are the only ones so far who seem to have a grip on containment at this point.

  28. I see that you want to do video comparing korea and the rest of the world since the situations are so different. korea seems to be an island in this world where everyone can go out and chill and go shopping, while the rest of the world has to stay inside.
    but its not because they dont stick to the rules. they did. its because korea has another corona timeline. they stayed at home in early march and now they have only very few infected people left and the restrictions are only planned until tomorrow.

    2. The rest of the world has to stay inside? Since when lol. My American Government CANNOT make us stay inside.

      Im outside every single day, mostly at the beach.

  29. Old man, tho…most people coming in that are infected are koreans…please don’t be racist against foreigners consider most of us can’t even go to korea anymore:(

  30. South Korea never shut down any of their cities, the government has always let citizens move around freely. That’s the point of South Korea’s social distancing; recommending to not move unless necessary, but still letting people live their normal lives. You can still see many people on the streets, except that everyone is wearing a mask and they’re aware of COVID-19, washing and sanitizing their hands.

    1. There’s a difference. Korean government is handling it REALLY REALLY well. Like, excepptionally good planning. We have enough masks (good masks), sanitizers, and the distribution/sale of important products like those are handled well.

      Daegu and the province was shutdown originally

      IT’s good government response that meant the country can open up more.

      IT’s teh opposite in America. Poor planning, not enough masks, not enough ventilators, over-stressed healthcare… etc etc
      oh, and a lunatic of a president.

    2. The other big difference is that Korea was able to get their testing ramped up and was able to trace most of the infected and quarantine them.

      Problem with Western countries, especially the US right now is that they don’t test unless you show serious symptoms of COVID19. This means there are dozens of people per every infected patient who are still walking around infecting others in the community. The US government is flying blind and that’s why these draconian measures are placed to stop the infection from spreading like wildfire.

  31. “People cover their mouth when they sneeze “ tell that to the ajushi that was on the train I was on…no mask just sneezed all over the guy I. Front of him..didn’t even apologize.

    1. i know there are some apartments/buildings that purposely don’t put in balconies to avoid jumpers. i think it depends on the area though

  34. Looking at how people were still out & about in groups on the street or even in cafe, I won’t even give it a 5! Definitely failed badly! 😂
    But then again I don’t blame Koreans for not taking it seriously. The government isn’t enforcing it strictly anyway. And since South Korea govt been praised all over the world for how they handle the crisis & getting the numbers under control fast WITHOUT a lockdown, so kudos to all their healthcare workers. Their hardwork & sacrifices allow the common citizen to continue living their lives normally just as usual.

  35. People who are social distancing are pathetic little people who should stay in the basement like rats.
    I just know when you guys comes out of you houses, you will bow to me. Why?

    Because I am the only person in the world who is not scared of this virus.

    You guys are making excuses, getting paranoid for what reason? It’s just fever 2 weeks. Has nobody got Fever before ?
    I am so disgusted that all of you are adults but still babies.

    Social distancing is a choice for the weak.
    You always thought you were so special like a main character did you? Now you know you are not even a side character or the damn background tree. You are literslly nothing, because you are nowhere.

  37. ….
    Flattening the curve was supposed to be about flattening it so that hospitals wouldn’t be overwhelmed with myriads of patients at one time, which has been pretty much accomplished, or is soon to be. This never was supposed to be quarantine for all, until it was guarenteed that no one will ever contact the disease again. If the hospitals were overwhelmed there wouldn’t have been enough workers, beds, or medical supplies, resulting in many more deaths, due to poor, little or no medical care.
    When this lifts, no matter when, people who didn’t get the virus yet, knowingly, or unknown to themselves, may very possibly get the virus, once we all come out. This is because they didn’t get it yet, and haven’t built up any immunity, specifically against this virus.
    We must continue to protect the elderly and physically compromised, the best we can. We should have special outfitting such as masks and gloves and go visit them. They need love and attention, so we definately should visit them. People die from feeling neglected and not loved. If they haven’t yet acquired immunity, from having had the virus, they should remain inside and quarantined. This should be until the virus runs it’s full course in society, perhaps for a month.
    Once healthy people are finally through getting this virus, once it runs it’s course through society, then they then can return to society.
    A fair amount of people may still get this, for a time, until it exhausts the number of new people catching it, as it gets passed around. This time it should be fewer who get it, as many have already had it. Hopefully it won’t overwhelm the health care system.
    People who want to wait until it’s all over before they come out, will likely be under shutdown for a very, very long time. If we all do this our economy will be completely destroyed. Then will come mass violence, starvation and much death. We are now building herd immunity, hopefully in increments, so that the coronavirus can be properly dealt with by the health care system.
    IT IS COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC for people to think that there won’t be a fair amount of cases yet in society. Hopefully they will be mild, or show no symptoms at all, as this is statistically how it presents itself in by far the most people who get it.
    An amazing way to deal with it is to immediately give all people, who test positive, and and are actively having any of it’s symptoms, Hydroxychloroquine, antibiotic Zithromax (providing their heart is healthy), and zinc.
    It works amazingly to make the virus a short, much more bearable disease, hopefully with no deaths. It should be given right away, not waiting until someone is halfway through death’s door.
    The oppositioin to this tricombo must cease.

  38. I live in Korea and honestly feel I am one of the few people who is taking this social distancing or staying indoors as much as possible seriously. Even if it’s spring, I controlled myself and not see the flowers at crowded places. But as you can see, there are so many people in cafes, restaurants, even partying at pubs at night. In those places you eat and drink, so you remove your masks naturally and share food. Even on the streets, smokers pull their masks below their chins and spit on the streets and people step over them without knowing. Just a hot breeding spot for more spreading ㅠㅜ I wouldn’t be surprised if cases suddenly rises weeks after, but just hoping for the best and doing my small part.

    2. @이준호 Well, let their restaurant be opened, I would just stay home and not visit them..Then it would make no sense to keep them opened. I’m not surprised by the restaurants which are still working, I’m surprised by the people who visit there 🤷🏼‍♀️

    3. @이준호 rofl my father has a restaurant that shut down as well .. he also has to survive somehow.. even had surgery during this time.. there are ways for restaurant owners to overcome this, even though its hard.. noone will make a killing in this crisis besides amazon and people with capital, who buy property of desperate people oO

      Ive been working in a restaurant too and was laid off with almost no money, had to apply in a different sector right away
      dont think that you are alone, we are all in this together, in the good but also the bad.. If u got it bad, think bout Africa/India in a month e.g.

    4. @SlipperyTube because some restaurant owners can’t afford to shut down? You may be okay with staying at home but some people don’t have that luxury.

    5. cant believe restaurants and bars are still open in korea, ive been to seoul, many bars and restaurants are small in size, there is no avoiding people
      why is it that Korea one of the best places to order out doesnt just switch completely to delivery, most of them are doing it anyway ?
      I fear that the population might undo the good work that was done in the beginning

  46. hey asianboss, i wonder if you can interview more koreans from lower income class as well. I’m curious to see how they’re coping up with the situation.

  47. If you are going to expose your nose while wearing a mask, you dont need the mask, its a waste of money, you will contract the coronavirus anyways.

  48. 오늘 CASES + 18 .
    하루 경제피해액 10조.
    마스크착용과 소독만 철저히 하면 사회적 격리 풀어도 된다고 봅니다.
    감염자 0″ 이라는 방역은 환상입니다.

  50. The people interviewed seemed to be very intelligent and sensible. Thanks to the Korean government’s push to inform the world with excellent information to combat this virus, the US has finally began to wear masks. I personally learned a lot from your channel and from your interview of the top Korean doctor. I am so proud of the South Korean people. I am also proud to be a subscriber of your channel. Keep up the great work. 👍👍👍

    3. @Dhanyata Shett Kankonkar yes don’t let the media spread hate among muslims and hindus. These all are stereotypes. We’re all human born from the coke of a human mother, we don’t need to think other people with different Religions are aliens

    4. @Cekme Beauty m really happy to know that there are so many good people around the world…thanks to YouTube for connecting the world.

  54. Statistics show 1 passing away for 1000 infections, google it. Governments have labeled recently this « pandemic » indeed, as a « very bad flu » (google it). Recently an official from the UK admitted that some patients who passed away were said to have this thing, when it was not the case (on YouTube). Body can fight this off. I still believed that washing your hands often is good though

  57. 아니 지네들도 밖에 나온 상태에서 따닥따닥 붙어서 인터뷰 하고 있으면서 외출하는 다른 사람들 평가할 자격이 되나? 굉장한 모순이네

  58. 제발 마스크 턱에 걸치지 맙시다 그럴려면 kf94 미스크가 무슨 소용인가요
    Please wear the mask properly! Do not take down the mask to the jaw line and do not expose your nose!

  61. You guys should notice that most South Koreans are wearing KF94 masks, the same level as N95, which means basically they are equipped like medical practitioners at hospitals. It’s not something like a scarf or a cotton one. If you guys only see those people out there walking freely outside, think about how well they are equipped. Yes, we go to work and many shops are still open. However, all people wear masks even indoors. So when I come back from work, skins on my ears and nose ache. So I can imagine how hard it is for those doctors and nurses to wear this mask longer than us. When everybody in your country is equipped like this, how effective will it be? Of course, we had to wear this level of masks every day even before this outbreak due to the serious fine dust that can be blocked only by this high-level masks. The difference is that we used to wear this mask outdoors but now indoors too.

  63. Please understand that older people, people with auto immunes, and other people with past health issues like cancer survivors, are most at risk for contracting the virus from asymptomatic people and dying from it. 🙁 it worries me that so many young people are still going out normally to these crowded places.

  65. Why do a lot of people think that closing boundaries on international arrivals is the best way to curb the Covid-19?? Its called a global pandemic! not something that occurs on a local or regional scale, and its also proven to be ineffective

    1. good for you. but if you haven’t already, please also take into consideration that you can 100% spread it, even if you don’t get sick from it.

  69. Only to think that 20th of April 2019 I got married in Seoul and because of this pandemic I was supposed to go see my husband that’s in South Korea and now I can’t. It will be a year we haven’t seen each other and now we don’t even know when we will. This pandemic has been devastating worldwide in so many ways. I hope everyone stays safe! We got this and we’ll get through it! ❤️

  70. *When you realize*
    you have been subconsciously keeping away at least 2 meters away from people when in public most of the time even before the Pandemic 😅

  71. As an European with little knowledge about Asia.

    I wonder how Hong Kong can be so relative free of Corona virus??

    They live so close to mainland China, so much traffic back n forth to other countrys and so many people in an very little area.

    Hong Kong is like an antstack and should by logic be hit hard with the virus, but.. ??

  76. Spare a thought for the healthcare workers who are exhausted from fighting the virus at the front line for months now. They can’t afford to have a round 2.. So please be more responsible, especially the younger people who are still going to social gatherings and entertainment venues. The situation is FAR FROM OVER!

  78. If korean people think their government did a poor job dealing the covid19 pandemic, I wonder what their thought about other country’s government.

  80. 1. 사회적 거리두기로 사람들이 붐비는 곳에 가지 않지만, 일과 개인의 활동은 자유롭게 하고 있다.(좋다)
    2.사회적 거리두기를 대부분의 사람들이 잘 하고 있지만 일부 하지 않는 사람들로 인해 잘 하고 있는 사람들은 허무하다.
    3.단 한명만 걸려도 확진이 빠르고 재발병의 위험 등이 있기 때문에 사회적 거리두기는 계속 연장 되어야 한다.
    4. 바이러스가 살아있는 한 완전한 삶의 복귀는 계속 연장 될 수도 있겠다.
    5. 사람들이 붐벼야 되는 업종들은 현재 운영을 할 수가 없는 상태다.
    6. 대책이 필요하다.

  82. By way of update, we are still not able to film anything outside of Korea due to COVID-19 lockdowns. If you missed our update video, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0pasjIvQFU Now more than ever, we all need to come together as a community and support each other. Up until now, our Asian Boss community only existed in the YT comments but we finally created our own community platform, Mogao, to interact more directly with you all and help people share valuable insights. If you’re sick of mainstream social media and always wanted to be a part of a super positive, meaningful and informative online community full of intellectually curious people for a change, then download our app:
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  83. From what I’ve seen through my friends social media, that live in Korea, they are not really practicing social distancing…they are in their twenties and they all go out to bars, cafes, karaoke rooms, etc etc where there’s a lot of people and sometimes, none of them are wearing masks…so I think people in their 20’s just don’t seem to care haha. They are just living their lives normally, from what I see on social media. I mean, all those places are open to the public, so….it makes sense why they think it’s completely fine to gather and socialize. But yeah, they should still be careful or just don’t go at all…lol

  84. I live in the Philippines and has never gone out since the emergency community quarantine started. Resources are few, but we’re doing the best we can to get by. The good news so far is that no family member got sick as well the entire neighborhood.
    I’m really sorry for our dear frontliners who’ve sacrificed their lives.
    I hope the experts soon discover the cure for this virus. 🙏

  85. I’m seeing people in korea and japan (other places too) freely go to restaurants, bars, and clubs all the time. especially young adults.

    it seems that nations like Korea (whose government has been a leading example around the world of how to handle this pandemic through testing and public services, etc.), could either allow for more social freedom BECAUSE of how well they are handling it–but there’s also the (safer/better) side of things where you’d think that people would be a bit stricter about social distancing than they currently are to supplement the great efforts made by the government.

    I feel like the ratings of “7” that interviewees gave was a little high. i hope that the citizens of korea and also people around the world will do a better job of social distancing on their own accord.

  87. I literally told my parents to buy masks when the epidemic wasn’t as bad as it is now in Italy. But nooo, they didn’t listen to me cause Italians never used masks before, and therefore “they’re probably not that useful” 🙄 smh

  90. Some viewers here say that South Koreans are roaming around the streets and not practicing social distancing and blaming them. Well, here is the thing:

    South Korean people and the government took this situation real seriously even before it escaladed to a pandemic situation, and made their moves accordingly, while others like China, the U.S., Sweden, Japan and etc were like meh I dunno.

    Those who took this seriously and acted fast and true have taken the situation under control and now things are coming back to normal. They already took the pain and uncomfort earlier than most of the countries that are now starting to suffer, and now are tasting the sweetness of normal life.

    Those who didn’t, are just now paying the price double and tripple times than the countries that acted sooner; locking down the cities and keeping people off the roads.

    Believe it or not, people-roaming-the-streets South Korea has only 30 patients a day, while locking-down-people countries take about 10k patients a day.

  92. Compared to my country and city, I see so many people walking around the streets at the back of those respodents or even sitting in small cafes XD What kind of social distance is this..

  94. I’m in Korea right now and I think apart from wearing masks, school closures, nothing much else is different. Everyone is still going on about their lives as usual and I feel like Koreans are starting to forget/getting more careless about this virus. I think there will be another spike in cases in the near future, seeing as how Chinese tourists can now travel out of China.

  96. Lots of people with fear. In the Netherlands we already know that the WHO lie for Bill Gates. We do not trust them and we will not get this fake vaccine. The west is waking up and we will break free from this mindf*ck! Lots of love to the world! Peace!

  99. In germany you can only go outside if its something important for example work etc. Also you are not allowed to be with more than 1 person otherwise you need to pay 200€.

  100. It’s crazy how much culture and mentality plays into this. A week ago i came back to Germany from Australia, and there almost everybody was wearing a mask (if they could get one). Back in Germany, with 10x the cases on my way from the airport to my home i saw 1 person wearing a mask. In my experience, the asian group mentality really does a lot in this.

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