President Moon talks with Spanish Prime Minister... "At the G20 meeting on the 26th, a 'message of unity' on COVID-19 must be delivered"

President Moon Jae-in is having a phone conversation with Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister of Spain, on the afternoon of the 24th at the Cheong Wa Dae Yeomin-gwan. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sunhee] On the 24th, President Moon Jae-in held a phone call with Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister of Spain, regarding the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) situation, stating, "At the upcoming G20 Special Video Summit on Thursday (26th), a united and consistent message from the leaders of each country must be sent to the world," and added, "I hope that international cooperation measures on both quarantine and economic fronts will be discussed in depth."

Kang Min-seok, spokesperson for the Blue House, announced through a written briefing in the afternoon, "President Moon held a 20-minute call with Prime Minister Sanchez starting at 5 p.m. today and exchanged opinions on cooperation measures between the two countries," revealing this.

According to Spokesperson Kang, President Moon said, "The COVID-19 situation is a global challenge and not limited to one country, so cooperation and solidarity from the international community are required more than ever," and added, "Our government will actively share the experience and clinical data accumulated during the COVID-19 quarantine and healing process with the international community."

President Moon remarked, "Marking the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Spain, this is an opportunity to further activate human and economic exchanges between the two countries, but it is regrettable that the COVID-19 situation has temporarily put a brake on this," and said, "I expect the Prime Minister's attention and support so that essential exchanges between businesspeople of the two countries can continue."

Regarding the situation in Spain, where COVID-19 is spreading later than in the Asian region, he said, "I recently saw on TV that Spanish citizens staying at home come out to their balconies every evening to encourage each other, express gratitude to healthcare workers by applauding, and pray for overcoming COVID-19, which was truly impressive," and encouraged, "I believe that the Prime Minister's leadership and various response measures by the Spanish government are uniting the Spanish people, and through this solidarity, the spread of COVID-19 in Spain will soon be contained."

In response, Prime Minister Sanchez said, "I would like to congratulate the Korean government on its great success in responding to COVID-19," and added, "At the G20 Special Video Summit, we will learn from Korea's innovative coronavirus eradication campaign and Korea's way of coping with the crisis." He further stated, "The 'pandemic' we are witnessing is not a regional issue but a global one," and agreed, "Countries should not respond individually but join forces to tackle it collectively." He also emphasized again, "Countries must respond uniformly to economic and health issues, and multilateral efforts are needed for the development of a COVID-19 vaccine."

Spokesperson Kang also conveyed that Prime Minister Sanchez requested holding a video conference with Korean infectious disease experts and support for Korean medical supplies to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Spain. President Moon responded, "We will review support measures within the possible scope in terms of international cooperation."

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