Minister Kang Kyung-hwa Talks with Iraqi Foreign Minister... Requests Swift Lift of Entry Ban

Phone Consultation with Indonesian Foreign Minister... Retno Minister "No Current Consideration of Entry Ban on Koreans"
Lee Tae-ho 2nd Vice Minister Talks with Malaysian Acting Foreign Minister... Expresses "Regret over Entry Ban Measures"

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is attending the government questioning session on politics, diplomacy, unification, and security held at the National Assembly plenary session on the 2nd, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the evening of the 3rd, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha had a phone call with Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali Al-Hakim, during which she provided a detailed explanation of the exact situation regarding COVID-19 in Korea and the measures taken by the Korean government, and requested the prompt withdrawal of the entry ban imposed on Korean nationals.

Minister Kang explained in detail that the Korean government is making an all-out effort at the whole-of-government level to contain the spread of COVID-19, based on world-class testing and epidemiological investigation capabilities.

In particular, Minister Kang emphasized that Korean businesspeople are participating in Iraq’s reconstruction projects and contributing to the Iraqi economy, and requested reconsideration of the entry ban on Korean businesspeople.

Minister Al-Hakim expressed gratitude for Minister Kang’s detailed explanation and highly evaluated Korea’s transparent and open response. However, he explained that the measures were unavoidable to prepare for any possible health situation in Iraq and responded that they would review ways to allow Korean businesspeople to enter without inconvenience.

Both ministers agreed that, based on the friendly and trusting relationship between the two countries, they could overcome the current situation together and decided to continue close communication between their governments.

Minister Kang also had a phone call with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, explaining the Korean government’s quarantine efforts related to COVID-19 and appreciating that Indonesia has not taken measures such as entry bans on Korean nationals.

Minister Kang explained that the Korean government is making an all-out effort with transparent and proactive measures at the whole-of-government level to contain the spread of COVID-19. Minister Retno highly praised Korea’s quarantine capabilities and mentioned that confirmed cases have recently occurred in Indonesia as well, stating that the COVID-19 issue is a matter that all countries must cooperate to resolve.

Furthermore, Minister Retno, considering the close economic relations and active human exchanges between Korea and Indonesia, said that they are currently not considering entry bans on Koreans and added that they hope Korea will maintain its policies regarding the entry of Indonesians.

Additionally, Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho had a phone call with Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister (Secretary-General) Muhammad Sharul Ikram Yaakob and expressed regret regarding Malaysia’s entry ban on Korean nationals coming from certain regions of Korea.

Vice Minister Lee explained that the Korean government is making an all-out effort based on world-class diagnostic testing and epidemiological investigation capabilities to contain the spread of COVID-19. He also expressed strong regret over the measures taken by some states (Sarawak, Sabah) that banned entry of all Korean nationals and emphasized the need for active cooperation from the federal government to prevent state governments from taking discriminatory measures compared to the federal government.

Deputy Minister Sharul expressed gratitude for Vice Minister Lee’s detailed explanation and evaluated Korea’s transparent and open response, expressing hope to maintain close communication with Korea regarding COVID-19 response. He further explained that Sarawak and Sabah have traditionally taken stricter measures than the federal government on health issues due to their geographical characteristics, requested understanding from the Korean government, and promised to make every effort to protect the rights of Korean nationals.

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