President Moon Holds Call at Canadian Prime Minister's Suggestion: "I Want to Learn from Korea" (Update)

Canada's Prime Minister "Plans to Follow a COVID-19 Model Similar to Korea"... Requests to Arrange Talks with Korean Health Authorities

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jung-min] On the morning of the 26th, President Moon Jae-in discussed cooperation measures between South Korea and Canada regarding the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) during a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In particular, Prime Minister Trudeau requested President Moon to facilitate dialogue between health authorities, stating that "Canada intends to follow a model similar to South Korea's."

Kang Min-seok, spokesperson for the Blue House, stated on the 26th, "The phone call took place from 10:00 to 10:32 this morning, during which both sides exchanged views on cooperation and international coordination measures. This call was initiated at the suggestion of Prime Minister Trudeau."

Prime Minister Trudeau emphasized, "The extensive and rapid testing and contact tracing conducted in South Korea are very important," and added, "We want to learn from South Korea." He further said, "South Korea's response, based on science and lessons learned from the MERS experience, is achieving results in public safety without placing excessive burdens on the healthcare system," and stated, "Canada also intends to adopt a model similar to South Korea's."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Moon explained South Korea's COVID-19 response situation and said, "We are willing to actively share the accumulated experience and clinical data from quarantine and treatment processes with the international community." Prime Minister Trudeau responded, "If we can obtain South Korea's data, we will gain many lessons," and requested, "I hope to facilitate dialogue between Canadian and South Korean health authorities."

Prime Minister Trudeau said, "Although we recently had to close the border with the United States, fundamentally, South Korea's decision not to ban foreign entries from countries like China was the right choice." He added, "We have requested quarantine supplies from South Korean companies," and said, "Canada will continue to increase medical equipment production so that, in the mid to long term, we can assist other countries."

President Moon said, "Although South Korea does not have sufficient quarantine supplies, we developed diagnostic kits early to meet domestic demand and respond to export requests and humanitarian aid requests from various countries," and added, "Countries with surplus supplies should actively help those without."

Meanwhile, President Moon wished for the speedy recovery of Sophie Trudeau, who is currently undergoing treatment after testing positive for COVID-19, and hoped for the prompt return of Prime Minister Trudeau, who is leading the COVID-19 response while working from home. Prime Minister Trudeau expressed gratitude to President Moon, sharing the news that Sophie is nearly recovered. The two leaders agreed to continue further discussions during the G20 special video summit scheduled for the afternoon of the 26th.

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