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[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha attended a special session of the Romanian Heads of Overseas Missions virtual conference on the 8th, invited by Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Lucian Aurescu, where she shared South Korea's experience with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and expressed her views on strengthening the role of international organizations to overcome the crisis of multilateralism.

At the request of the Romanian side, Minister Kang spoke as a special session speaker, explaining, "Although the number of confirmed cases has recently increased mainly in the metropolitan area, we are managing to ease the upward trend by further strengthening our 3T capabilities." She added, "In this situation, trust is the most important, and the foundation of the 3T strategy is based on the principles of openness, transparency, citizen participation, and innovation."

The Romanian Heads of Overseas Missions conference was attended by about 150 Romanian ambassadors and consuls general stationed in 92 countries worldwide, including Foreign Minister Aurescu and senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Minister Aurescu stated that he was greatly inspired by South Korea's policies and methods in responding to the COVID-19 crisis and introduced that it was the first time in over 10 years that an Asian country's foreign minister attended the Romanian Heads of Overseas Missions conference.

Romania has a tradition of inviting foreign high-ranking officials to the Heads of Overseas Missions conference. This year, alongside Minister Kang, attendees included Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; Mircea Geoana, NATO Deputy Secretary General; and Arancha Gonzalez, Spanish Foreign Minister.

Minister Kang then emphasized that multilateralism is facing a crisis and must be overcome through mutual cooperation. She diagnosed, "The crisis of multilateralism, which has been the foundation of international peace and prosperity for decades, has become more pronounced in the recent COVID-19 situation," and said, "In the current global environment, South Korea is responding based on the principles of trust in values such as openness and transparency that enable dynamic democracy and market economy, expanding all-round cooperation based on these values, pursuing peace and shared prosperity, and strengthening multilateralism."

She also expressed the need to realistically and soberly consider the future of multilateralism and the necessity to strive for reform of the United Nations (UN) and strengthening the role of the World Health Organization (WHO), which are representative international organizations. She added that in the current situation where leadership on the international stage is weakening, both South Korea and Romania, as middle powers, need to play more active roles.

During the Q&A session following her speech, Minister Kang addressed the Romanian side's inquiries about the prospects of non-face-to-face diplomacy, stating, "For the time being, a mixed diplomatic approach that takes advantage of both non-face-to-face diplomacy and traditional face-to-face diplomacy will continue," emphasizing, "However, non-face-to-face diplomacy cannot completely replace face-to-face diplomacy, and for this reason, minimum essential human exchanges between countries must be maintained."

Minister Yang also held a phone call just before the special session. The two ministers discussed △ ways to deepen the strategic partnership on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries △ cooperation in response to COVID-19 △ practical cooperation △ cooperation on the international stage. Minister Yang particularly evaluated that the two countries have cooperated in various fields over the past 30 years since establishing diplomatic relations, and that cooperation between the two countries regarding medical supplies, including diagnostic kits, has newly developed amid the COVID-19 crisis, making bilateral relations closer.

Minister Aurescu emphasized, "South Korea is the only Asian country that has established a strategic partnership with Romania," and stated that Romania regards South Korea as an important cooperation partner and hopes that investments through the participation of Korean companies in Romanian transportation infrastructure and nuclear power plant projects will expand further.

In response, Minister Kang said, "Amid the COVID-19 crisis, close economic cooperation between countries has become even more important," and introduced, "Yoo Myung-hee, the head of trade negotiations who is running for the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), possesses the expertise necessary to strengthen the WTO and can serve as a bridge between developed and developing countries," requesting Romania's special interest and support for candidate Yoo.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "It is unusual for Minister Kang to be invited to attend and speak at another country's Heads of Overseas Missions conference," adding, "This speech, delivered to high-ranking diplomats from Romania, one of the major EU member states in Eastern Europe, will be a good opportunity not only to strengthen cooperation with Romania in the changing diplomatic environment after COVID-19 but also to explore a future-oriented diplomatic direction at the Korea-EU level."

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