【明報專訊】SOUTH KOREA, once regarded as an international model of the fight against COVID-19, has recently seen a sharp deterioration in the situation. Its daily number of confirmed cases has hit new highs repeatedly, and the nation is on the brink of a major outbreak. A local right-wing conservative church paid no regard to the pandemic, and mass infections ensued. Core figures of the church continued to promote political conspiracy theories nevertheless, accusing the Moon Jae-in administration of using the pandemic to oppress the church. It failed to provide the authorities with a list of church members as soon as possible. As a result, South Korea's anti-pandemic authorities are unable to track down the asymptomatic patients and their close contacts, and the virus has spread everywhere. Despite the government's strong virus testing capabilities and powerful tracking systems, they cannot function as effectively as they should. The fruit of the country's anti-pandemic efforts over the past six months could be ruined at once.