Why Koreans wear face masks

An employee, center right, wearing a face mask and face shield to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus, guides a passenger at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 22,2020. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

MORE than anything else, the facemask has come to symbolise the Covid-19 pandemic. It stirs strong emotions and deep prejudices. It has been at the centre of public health debates and the turbulent US presidential election campaign.

Since Covid-19 first began its spread from China, much has been written about differences in facemask use in the East and West. Examples from the East come primarily from South Korea, Japan and China, while the West usually refers to Europe and North America.