Ministry of Foreign Affairs Requests Efforts for North Korea's Participation in Northeast Asia Quarantine Cooperation Framework

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 1st that it requested the participating countries of the "Northeast Asia Quarantine and Health Cooperation Body," led by Korea, to work together to encourage North Korea's participation.

At the 4th meeting of this cooperation body held via video conference on the evening of the previous day, Vice Minister Choi Jong-moon urged continued joint efforts to draw North Korea's participation so that it can contribute to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

The cooperation body, launched in December last year to jointly respond to cross-border health security issues in the Northeast Asia region, includes six countries: Korea, the United States, China, Japan, Russia, and Mongolia. The government has been encouraging North Korea's participation.

If North Korea participates, cooperation with North Korea is expected to be possible in the fields of health and infectious disease quarantine, where South Korea and the United States are currently discussing humanitarian aid to North Korea.

At the meeting, participants agreed to make further efforts to achieve concrete results within the year, such as the gradual expansion of the joint stockpiling system for medical quarantine supplies, holding joint COVID-19 education and training webinars, and adopting a principle document for rapid channels, based on previous discussions.

They also evaluated the recent pilot project of the joint stockpiling system for medical quarantine supplies between Korea and Mongolia and agreed to expand it to other participating countries.

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