Abstract

This study examines the possibilities of public participation in building public health policy through the case of public deliberation held i Jeju, South Korea. This public deliberation called "Town-hall meeting of the public healthcare system in Jeju during the Post COVID-19 era", was conducted to improve the capacity to respond to infectious disease outbreaks in Jeju, on March 26th and 27th, 2002. Fifty-one residents of Jeju participated and discussed how the government should respond to COVID-19 and emerging infectious diseases. Among the measures to strengthen the capacity of infectious disease response, the participants preferred 'remodeling local medical centers and expanding dedicated beds', and 'expanding manpower such as specialists and nurses' the most. Through the assessment of the operation of the town-hall meeting, by applying the principle of deliberation throughout each policy stage, we found that it is necessary to improve the representation and deliberation in the process of recruiting participants, providing information, and reflecting policies. For effective deliberation in the future, it is necessary to select appropriate discussion topics, engage diverse stakeholders and minorities, design discussions with experts on information provision, and create an institutional framework for policy-making. All in all, this paper provides and insight into the future tasks and possibilities of public engagement in public healthcare in the future through the case of public deliberation in Jeju.