Minister Kang Kyung-wha Holds Video Conference with Foreign Ministers of 7 Countries on COVID-19 Response: "Rapid and Transparent Information Sharing is Crucial"

Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State, Presides... Foreign Ministers from Australia, Brazil, India, Israel, Japan Attend

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the afternoon of the 11th (Korean time), Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha attended a multilateral video conference with foreign ministers of major countries for 70 minutes to discuss international cooperation measures in response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The video conference was attended by foreign ministers from seven countries including Korea and the proposing country, the United States, as well as Australia, Brazil, India, Israel, and Japan. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo chaired the meeting, and participants exchanged views including Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Brazilian Minister of State Ernesto Ara?jo, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Israeli Foreign Minister Katz, and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu.

The foreign ministers attending the meeting agreed that close communication and cooperation between countries are essential to respond to the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and discussed ▲response during the early stages of the outbreak ▲prevention of resurgence ▲rapid and transparent information sharing ▲international cooperation for economic revitalization.

Minister Kang emphasized, "The Korean government has actively contributed to building a foundation for joint response to the COVID-19 virus by gaining trust domestically and internationally through transparent and immediate information sharing from the early stages of the COVID-19 situation," and stressed "the importance of rapid and transparent information sharing related to COVID-19."

She continued, "While the domestic spread of COVID-19 has entered a stabilization phase through the ‘3T (Test, Trace, Treat)’ approach, the recent occurrence of cluster infections has caused confirmed cases to rise again to double digits," pointing out that "we must not let our guard down in responding to COVID-19."

Furthermore, Minister Kang introduced that Korea is actively contributing to the international community’s efforts to overcome COVID-19 worldwide through overseas support and export of surplus medical supplies domestically, as well as sharing Korea’s quarantine experience. In particular, she emphasized the importance of international cooperation for economic revitalization, stating that it is necessary to resume cross-border human exchanges including essential movement of businesspeople, restore transportation networks, maintain openness of the global market, and develop and distribute vaccines and treatments.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "The foreign ministers attending the meeting evaluated that the United States is playing a leading role in discussions on international cooperation for COVID-19 response, including hosting this foreign ministers’ video conference," and added, "Based on the frank and meaningful discussions on COVID-19 response held during the video conference, they agreed to continue close communication and cooperation going forward."

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