“After COVID-19, humanity will live a completely different life.
We dare to call ourselves Corona Sapiens, living in a new world that no one has ever experienced before.”

Choi Jae-cheon, Jang Ha-joon, Choi Jae-boong, Hong Ki-bin, Kim Nu-ri, Kim Kyung-il…
The Future of the New Humanity as Proposed by Six Leading Korean Scholars
A startlingly bold insight, a conviction and a warning, a new insight that permeates life across the planet.

It seems clear that humanity will live a completely different life than before due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amidst the growing self-reflection that it will be difficult to overcome this crisis with the language and methods of the past, leading intellectuals from various fields have offered bold insights.
They are Choi Jae-cheon (Ecology and Humanity), Chang Ha-joon (Restructuring the Economy), Choi Jae-boong (Transition of Civilization), Hong Ki-bin (New System), Kim Nu-ri (Overturning the Worldview), and Kim Kyung-il (Measures of Happiness).
How will our lives change? What should we pay attention to from past misjudgments and decisions? What needs to be corrected and what needs to be cultivated? What opportunities can be found in crisis? They boldly call us, who will live in a new world no one has ever experienced, "Corona Sapiens," and offer broad insights into the new humanity that will have to live under a completely different system in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The biggest characteristic of this coronavirus is that it is very weak.
At first, it comes in so gently that you don't even feel any symptoms.
They keep spreading it to others without even knowing that they have it.
Then, it reveals its true colors and enters not only the lungs but also other organs at a very fast rate.
It is transmitted through contact, but if the virus invades and quickly becomes critical, that person cannot spread it even if they want to.
---From "Post-Corona (1) Ecology and Humanity: Choi Jae-cheon"

Most experts say the only answer is a vaccine, but I disagree.
They say it takes at least a year to develop a vaccine.
It will probably take about 2-3 years in practice.
But if viruses continue to attack us almost every year in the future, vaccines will always have to be on the back burner.
It's like a vaccine is developed and distributed only after tens of thousands of people die over the course of a year.
Vaccines are made from weakened or killed pathogens like bacteria or viruses, or by extracting the surface proteins or toxins surrounding the pathogens. There are better vaccines than these chemical vaccines.
These are behavioral vaccines and ecological vaccines.
---From "Post-Corona (1) Ecology and Humanity: Choi Jae-cheon"

There is now hope that people may finally be making the calculation that it is better not to disturb nature.
We can't afford to be hit by a catastrophe like this every few years.
Now, eco-centric companies that put ecology at the center of their economic activities will emerge, and consumers will only choose such companies.
Ecological transition is the only way to survive.
---From "Post-Corona (1) Ecology and Humanity_ Choi Jae-cheon"

Now is the time to loosen up your money.
That's the only way.
How you solve it here is important.
Because even though we've been releasing a lot of money since 2008, almost none of that money has gone into the real economy.
Banks simply piled up money and companies took on excessive debt, which only created bubbles in the asset market.
So, you can't do it that way this time either.
Especially this time, even if people spend money, it is difficult to go out and spend.
That's why we need to give money to people who really need it to make a living.
---From "Post-Corona (2) Economic Restructuring_ Ha-Joon Chang"

However, some argue that given the unprecedented economic crisis brought about by COVID-19, the Moon Jae-in administration should scrap all of its policies, including raising the minimum wage, implementing the 52-hour workweek, and pursuing income-led growth, and instead shift towards growth.
What do you think about this? How can we grow in this situation?
Right now, keeping our citizens safe and healthy is paramount.
And as I said before, growth is a means.
Ultimately, the goal is to make all citizens live well.
It is time to abandon such values ​​that have reversed the roles of subject and object.
---From "Post-Corona (2) Economic Restructuring_ Ha-Joon Chang"

When the world's top 100 digital ventures come to our country, more than half of them are illegal.
That's what they mean when they talk about a regulatory republic.
Uber is one of them, Airbnb is another, and there are many others as well.
One of the issues that has come to light this time is telemedicine.
In our country, telemedicine is illegal, so people who are afraid of infection are reluctant to visit hospitals and receive medical diagnosis.
Many countries, such as the United States, China, and Japan, have already implemented this.
In our country, if there is a threat to existing jobs, it can be considered a target of regulation.
In fact, protection is definitely necessary.
However, the pace of change in world civilization is too fast to be maintained through regulations alone.
Protection should not lead to elimination.

---From "Post-Corona (3) Transition of Civilization_ Choi Jae-boong"

There is a makgeolli company with three employees and annual sales of 200 million won.
When the owner was facing financial difficulties and was about to close the business, his son jumped in, saying, "Our makgeolli tastes good and is good, so I'll try to save it." After using social media marketing, sales increased 100-fold in just 10 years.
20 billion won.
Makgeolli is a traditional industry.
Applying the civilization of Phono Sapiens there opened the way.
This means that there is no need to worry about jobs disappearing.
The idea is that we can only achieve a balance between supply and demand by continuously creating new jobs through new civilizations.
---From "Post-Corona (3) Transition of Civilization_ Choi Jae-boong"

My friends in Europe often compare COVID-19 to the Black Death.
Of course, the casualty numbers are incomparable.
In the 14th century, almost half the population died.
But I think that Europeans are similar in that this is an event that will fundamentally change their way of life as they feel such a great shock and tragedy.
I'm accepting that after COVID-19, the entire civilization will change in a completely new way.
Because the structures that have supported global capitalist civilization for the past 40 years are all collapsing.
There are four structures.
Globalization, urbanization, financialization, and ecological crisis.
---From "Post-Corona [4] New System_ Hong Ki-bin"

There may be things we need to change in the way we live.
First of all, is it really necessary to travel abroad once a year, polluting the air and spending money? Do we really need to touch the Leaning Tower of Pisa? Do we really need to drink groundwater, bedrock, and even meltwater from glaciers in plastic containers in the city? The Danes and we farm and raise pigs, just like we do. If we send our agricultural products to Denmark and import pork from Denmark just because it's a few hundred or thousand won cheaper, what will happen to the planet?
---From "Post-Corona [4] New System_ Hong Ki-bin"

First, capitalism, if left unchecked, will prey on humans.
In Germany, they call it 'beast capitalism'.
That means becoming a beast.
That is the reality of Korean society today.
In Korean society, beast capitalism is more rampant than in any other country in the world.
In other words, the Korean National Assembly is over-represented by liberal democrats and those who support the so-called free market economy.
That's why unemployment and inequality are so severe.
The fact that Korea boasts the world's highest unemployment, inequality, mortality, and industrial accident rates means that the brutality of capitalism is rampant in Korean society.
---From "Post-Corona [5] Overturning the Worldview_ Kim Nu-ri"

The third principle for the post-COVID era is to be wary of the risks of disaster capitalism.
Capitalism has always used social and natural disasters as golden opportunities to strengthen its dominance.
The recent behavior of several Korean conglomerates and large corporations amid the COVID-19 crisis, along with the capital-friendly measures taken by officials at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, warn of the potential recurrence of the evils of disaster capitalism.
Clearly, our national response was excellent and our awareness was high, but we must never lose sight of this evil.

---From "Post-Corona [5] Overturning the Worldview_ Kim Nu-ri"

Until recently, students coming from abroad were looked upon with disdain.
From a psychologist's perspective, that's a natural reaction.
The word reaction itself is a reflexive action that occurs unconsciously.
However, one thing that must be noted is that if you act according to the reactions of your body organs, you are not a human but an animal.
It is human to control that with reason.
… No matter how much you love someone, if they suddenly appear on a dark street at night, you can’t help but be surprised.
There's no need to feel guilty about that reaction.
But there is nothing more foolish than clinging to that reaction for too long or disguising that reaction as some policy or social value.
---From "Post-Corona [6] The Scale of Happiness_ Kim Kyung-il"

COVID-19 is anxiety, not anger.
So, right now, we are not ‘angry’ because of the coronavirus, but rather ‘anxious’ because of the coronavirus.
Why does anxiety increase? It increases because of uncertainty.
However, uncertainty can be sufficiently resolved by showing the facts.
When you're feeling anxious, the best thing to do is get the facts straight.
That's what the Korean government and the Korean system did well.
When I found out the truth, I thought, 'Oh, the risk of infection is high.
But, thinking, 'The fatality rate must be about this much,' they use their own energy, society's energy, or group energy for good things.
---From "Post-Corona [6] The Scale of Happiness_ Kim Kyung-il"

Before the COVID-19 outbreak, we were stuck in a cycle of endless satisfaction, thinking, "I have to have this, I have to have that."
Then, look at what people who have time alone due to this situation do.
Don't people who like sweet things stir their coffee 1,000 times to make dalgona coffee?
I've developed my own like.
That's what gives me real satisfaction.
It's true happiness.
If you keep pursuing socially desirable things that you don't really like, you'll end up earning a lot more.
We need to have much more and take much more.
But in a society or culture where we discover what we truly like and develop our abilities to do so, we can all live happily together while coexisting with less.

---From "Post-Corona [6] The Scale of Happiness_ Kim Kyung-il"