US Ambassador to Korea Harris: "Great Thanks to Korean Government for 2 Million Masks Support"..."Korea-US Alliance is Important and Strong"

Transported by US flight in the early morning of the 11th

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Harry Harris, the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, expressed his gratitude on the 11th regarding the South Korean government's support of 2 million masks.

On the same day, Ambassador Harris tweeted, "I am deeply grateful to South Korea and the Blue House for the urgent support of 2 million masks to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)," adding, "Our alliance and friendship remain as important and strong as they were 70 years ago."

The government sent masks to the United States, where confirmed cases of COVID-19 are rapidly increasing. This is the first case of supplying masks to the U.S. through government-to-government consultation, despite the general prohibition on mask exports.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as part of the Korea-U.S. COVID-19 response cooperation, the government urgently provided 2 million masks to the U.S. government early that morning. This decision was made after comprehensively considering the domestic situation, mask supply, 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 morning. The masks will arrive in the U.S. early on the 11th U.S. time and will be distributed through FEMA to necessary sites within the U.S., including medical facilities and healthcare workers.

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."

Earlier, the South 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 and 100,000 tests were also delivered to Maryland and Colorado, respectively.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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