South Korea-Guatemala Foreign Ministers' Call... Discussion on Cooperation Measures for COVID-19 Response

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the morning of the 22nd, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha held a phone call at the request of Pedro Brolo Villa, Guatemala's Foreign Minister, and exchanged opinions on cooperation measures between the two countries in response to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Minister Kang stated that although the COVID-19 situation in Korea is entering a stable phase, it is not yet a stage to be complacent, and expressed gratitude to the Guatemalan government for actively supporting the safe return of 73 Korean nationals in mid-April. A total of 73 Korean nationals returned on the 16th via a temporary Aero Mexico flight.

Minister Kang further explained that through the Korea-Latin America COVID-19 response webinar held on the 21st, Korea actively shared its COVID-19 quarantine experience with Latin American countries, and conveyed that Korea will continue to expand quarantine cooperation both online and offline in the future.

In response, Foreign Minister Brolo said that Korea's overcoming of COVID-19 is a global model case that Guatemala hopes to actively learn from, and that once Guatemala's COVID-19 situation stabilizes, priority attention will be given to reviewing the possibility of Korean businesspeople visiting Guatemala. Over 170 companies have entered Guatemala, and about 7,000 overseas Koreans reside there.

Minister Kang also stated that Korea plans to further strengthen COVID-19 response cooperation with Guatemala, a key partner in the Central American region, and requested the Guatemalan government's special attention and support for the approximately 7,000 Koreans and businesspeople residing locally.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "Through this call, the two ministers agreed on the necessity of continuous cooperation between the two countries in response to COVID-19, and decided to expand cooperation between the two countries in practical areas such as health cooperation and economic revitalization."

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