Deputy Minister Choi Jong-geon Holds Phone Talks with Deputy Foreign Ministers of 7 Countries... Discusses COVID-19 Cooperation and Resumption of Economic Activities

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Choi Jong-geon, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, participated on the 6th in a telephone consultation among deputy foreign ministers of seven countries in the region to respond to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.

The consultation, involving deputy foreign ministers from seven countries including Korea, the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Vietnam, has been held regularly 12 times since the first meeting in March. This consultation was the 13th. Attendees included Steven Biegun, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State; Takeo Akiba, Administrative Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan; Frances Adamson, Deputy Secretary of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Chris Seed, Deputy Secretary of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Nguyen Van Thao, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam; and Barney Rao, Director of the North America Division of the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During this telephone consultation, the deputy foreign ministers exchanged views on △ promoting regional cooperation in response to COVID-19 △ resuming economic activities △ facilitating international human mobility △ vaccine development and distribution △ regional multilateral cooperation such as the East Asia Summit (EAS). Vice Minister Choi explained that although domestic COVID-19 cases surged in August and September, the spread stabilized due to the government's basic COVID-19 response principles of the ‘3T (Testing, Tracing, Treatment) strategy’ and strict implementation of social distancing.

Vice Minister Choi also introduced the government's recent agreement with Japan on simplifying entry procedures for economic personnel, and noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of health security in regional cooperation, expressing hope that this year's East Asia Summit (EAS) will serve as an opportunity to further enhance international cooperation.

Furthermore, he mentioned continuing cooperation through multilateral mechanisms such as the global vaccine supply system, the COVAX Facility, to ensure successful vaccine development and equitable and appropriate access to vaccines for all countries.

In response, the deputy ministers agreed on the importance of close communication among regional countries amid the prolonged COVID-19 situation and evaluated the usefulness of this consultation.

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