Phone Consultation with Deputy Foreign Ministers of 7 Countries on 'COVID-19 Response'... First Vice Foreign Minister Jose Young Emphasizes "Exceptional Consideration Needed for Businesspeople's Entry"

Deputy Foreign Ministers from 7 Countries Including Korea, USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, and India Participate

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 20th at 10:30 a.m. (Korean time), Cho Se-young, First Vice Foreign Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, held a 40-minute multilateral phone consultation with deputy foreign ministers from seven countries in the region, including the United States and Japan, to discuss cooperation measures related to COVID-19 response.

At the request of the U.S. side, this coordinated phone consultation included deputy foreign ministers from seven countries: Korea, the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, and India. Attendees included Steven Biegun, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State; Takeo Akiba, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan; Frances Adamson, Deputy Secretary of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Mark Sinclair, Deputy Secretary of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Harsh Shringla, Senior Deputy Foreign Secretary of India; and Bui Thanh Son, Senior Deputy Foreign Minister of Vietnam.

During the meeting, the deputy foreign ministers shared experiences regarding each country's quarantine policies, support for overseas nationals, and information sharing and communication related to COVID-19, amid the increasing need for international cooperation due to the global spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). They exchanged views on future cooperation directions.

In particular, Vice Minister Cho emphasized that as a result of the Korean government's proactive efforts, Korea has recently shown a decline in new COVID-19 cases and a lower mortality rate compared to the global average, but that the government continues to actively respond to risk factors without complacency.

Vice Minister Cho also raised the necessity of exceptionally considering essential entry of businesspeople to minimize restrictions on economic exchanges despite the spread of COVID-19, and requested cooperation to effectively block the spread of COVID-19 while minimizing its impact on the international economy.

The deputy foreign ministers who participated in this phone consultation agreed on the effectiveness of such multilateral communication as part of international cooperation to overcome the COVID-19 crisis, and decided to continue these consultations in the future to share progress and response experiences of each country and cooperate closely.

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