Minister Kang Kyung-hwa: "Essential Workforce Exchange Between Countries Needed"… Attended Video Conference of Foreign Ministers from 7 Countries

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the afternoon of the 9th, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha attended the 9th "COVID-19 International Cooperation Group" multilateral foreign ministers' video conference and proposed, "While maintaining stable quarantine measures, let us further strengthen efforts to maintain essential exchanges between countries for the sake of global supply chain stability and economic recovery."

Minister Kang particularly stated, "South Korea has maintained open borders while making diplomatic efforts at the bilateral level to exceptionally allow essential personnel movement for economic and humanitarian purposes," adding, "We plan to expand this first to countries and regions where quarantine conditions permit."

Furthermore, she emphasized that since the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis, our government has continuously sought ways to block the spread of infection while enabling citizens' economic activities and daily lives, steadily establishing 생활방역 (saenghwal-bangyeok, or daily life quarantine measures). She added, "Since sporadic cluster infections have recently occurred mainly in the metropolitan area, it is not a stage to be complacent. We are responding by mobilizing all quarantine capabilities and resources without lowering our guard."

Minister Kang then introduced that our government plans to promote the "Korean New Deal," which has two pillars: the Digital New Deal and the Green New Deal, to overcome the economic crisis early and prepare for the post-COVID era, and explained that a large-scale supplementary budget is being pursued for this purpose. The Digital New Deal includes ▲ building and spreading data, 5G, and artificial intelligence (AI) systems, ▲ enhancing digital accessibility and security, ▲ fostering non-face-to-face industries, and ▲ digitalizing social overhead capital (SOC). The Green New Deal includes ▲ green transformation of urban and living infrastructure, ▲ building a green industry ecosystem, and ▲ spreading low-carbon and distributed energy.

She also emphasized the importance of international cooperation. Minister Kang stated, "Vaccines are a public good for humanity, and international cooperation is crucial to establish equitable and stable distribution plans after development."

Accordingly, the foreign ministers agreed on the necessity of close communication and cooperation between countries amid the prolonged crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. They shared each country's current COVID-19 response status and future plans and agreed to continue close bilateral and multilateral communication and cooperation.

The video conference, held for the ninth time since it began on March 15, was attended by foreign ministers from seven countries, including South Korea, the proposing country Canada, Australia, Indonesia, Morocco, Peru, and Singapore.

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