Korea Provides First Emergency Support of 2 Million Masks to the U.S.... Follow-up Measures After Korea-U.S. Leaders' Phone Call (Comprehensive)

Transported by US aircraft in the early morning of the 11th... First US support since mask export ban considering domestic supply
Harris, US Ambassador to Korea, "Great thanks to Korean government for mask support"... Strong alliance and friendship

Two million masks urgently provided by the Korean government to the U.S. government were loaded onto a U.S. cargo plane and transported in the early morning of the 11th. (Photo by Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The government has sent masks to the United States, where confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) are rapidly increasing. This is the first case of supplying masks to the U.S. through intergovernmental consultation, despite the general prohibition on mask exports.

On the 11th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had urgently provided 2 million masks to the U.S. government as part of Korea-U.S. cooperation in responding to COVID-19. This decision was made comprehensively considering the domestic situation, mask supply and demand, and the necessity of support for the allied United States, as a follow-up measure to the joint COVID-19 response discussed during the leaders' phone call on March 24.

The masks are scheduled to be supplied to the U.S. medical field struggling with COVID-19, and the U.S. side transported the masks via a cargo plane departing early that day. The masks will arrive in the U.S. early on the 11th U.S. time and will be distributed to necessary sites within the U.S., including medical facilities and healthcare workers, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "Through this support, we hope that Korea and the U.S. can quickly overcome the common challenge of COVID-19 and contribute to sharing Korea's quarantine experience within the international community."

In response, Harry Harris, the U.S. Ambassador to Korea, also expressed his gratitude on Twitter that day, saying, "I am very grateful to Korea and the Blue House for urgently providing 2 million masks to the U.S. FEMA," and added, "Our alliance and friendship are as important and strong as they were 70 years ago."

The government, which prohibits mask exports, had previously decided to exceptionally allow overseas supply for humanitarian aid purposes when officially requested by foreign governments. So far, about 70 countries have officially requested mask support from the government. The government has set criteria for selecting countries for overseas mask supply, including those severely affected by COVID-19 and with vulnerable medical and quarantine conditions, as well as countries requiring support for diplomatic and security reasons.

Meanwhile, the Korean government exported COVID-19 test kits equivalent to 750,000 tests to the U.S. federal government last month. Korean-made kits equivalent to 500,000 tests and 100,000 tests were also delivered to Maryland and Colorado, respectively.

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