Chairman Lee Mi-kyung: "Now It's Time to Prepare for the Global 'Post COVID-19' Era"

"Post-COVID-19 Era, a Crucial Time to Reestablish Status Depending on Korea's Response"
KOICA Discusses Mid- to Long-Term Strategies and Program Plans for COVID-19 Response

Lee Mi-kyung, Director of KOICA, is delivering a greeting at the academic conference titled "Formation and Prospects of Disaster Governance in the COVID-19 Era: For International Comparative Research," hosted by KOICA on the 10th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency) presented KOICA’s COVID-19 response, mid- to long-term strategies, and international development cooperation in preparation for the post-novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) era at the academic conference titled “Formation and Prospects of Disaster Governance in the COVID-19 Era: For International Comparative Research,” co-hosted with the Seoul National University COVID-19 Research Network (SNUCRN) on the 10th.

Organized by the Northeast Asia Center and Asia Regional Information Center within the Asia Institute of Seoul National University, along with the Seoul National University Institute for Social Development Studies, this academic conference gathered leading experts in health, administration, politics, economy, and society to diagnose the social impacts of COVID-19 by issue and to explore international comparative research centered on COVID-19 researchers at Seoul National University in preparation for the post-COVID-19 era.

On this day, Lee Mi-kyung, Chairperson of KOICA, emphasized that efforts to resolve issues such as environmental destruction, inequality, human rights violations, and infectious diseases that existed before COVID-19 will become the core of the new normal era, which is currently referred to as the “post-COVID” or “new normal” era.

Chairperson Lee stated, “Just as the League of Nations and the UN were established after World Wars I and II, and the G7 and G20 were formed after the oil shock (1973) and financial crisis (2008), a new normal system will be created after COVID-19. Korea’s position in the restructured world will depend on how Korea responds and acts now.”

Regarding preparations for the post-COVID-19 era, she added, “There is a need to support issues such as poverty, livelihoods, education, and health, which have become more vulnerable in economically weaker countries due to COVID-19. Since COVID-19 is a widespread and global problem, solutions must also be developed on a broad and global scale.”

During the conference, discussions were also held on the importance of immediate action regarding △ emergency humanitarian aid implementation for COVID-19 response △ domestic and international social economy solidarity efforts △ changes in ODA programs centered on human resource exchange. To practice “physical (social) distancing,” the academic conference was broadcast live on YouTube for six hours from 1 p.m. The presentation materials will be translated into English to widely share Korea’s experiences, response measures, and future directions with the international community.

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