UK Foreign Secretary Who Canceled Meeting with Kang Kyung-hwa "Was in Self-Quarantine"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] It was confirmed on the 2nd that Dominic Raab, the UK Foreign Secretary who suddenly canceled a meeting with Kang Kyung-wha, South Korea's Foreign Minister, was actually in self-quarantine due to concerns over the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Earlier, on the 26th of last month (local time), just before the scheduled meeting with Minister Kang at the UK Foreign Office building in London, Raab informed that "due to unavoidable personal reasons, it is difficult to hold the meeting as planned." He did not specify what the personal reasons were.

Instead, Minister Kang met with Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Some criticized that Minister Kang might have recklessly traveled abroad amid COVID-19 spread and restrictions on Koreans entering other countries. Media reports also emerged suggesting that Minister Kang was "shunned" or "rejected" in the UK. It is unusual for an officially announced foreign minister meeting to be canceled at the last minute.

However, it was revealed that Raab canceled the meeting with Minister Kang due to COVID-19. According to BBC, Raab felt unwell last week, entered self-quarantine, and underwent a COVID-19 test. BBC reported that Raab only returned to work after receiving a negative test result.

On the 28th of last month, Raab had a separate phone call with Minister Kang, during which they discussed close cooperation between the two countries in responding to COVID-19. According to a South Korean diplomatic source, Raab explained the reason for canceling the meeting during the call, stating that he had taken a COVID-19 test and was in self-quarantine because of it.

The source said, "Since Raab's COVID-19 test was not publicly known in the UK, our side also did not disclose it," and added, "The allegations of neglect raised by some are not true."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.