WHO Secretary-General: "Korea Has a Robust and Excellent Response System"... Minister Kang Kyung-wha Meets with Secretary-General Ghebreyesus

Gebreyesus "Confident We Will Overcome the COVID-19 Crisis"
Minister Kang Kyung-wha Explains South Korean Government's Strengthened Whole-of-Government Response System

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 23rd (local time) in Geneva, Switzerland, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), on the occasion of attending the Human Rights Council, and discussed recent responses to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and ways to strengthen Korea-WHO cooperation.

Minister Kang explained, "Regarding the current status of COVID-19 in Korea, our government is responding to COVID-19 in a whole-of-government and transparent manner," adding, "Due to the recent rapid increase in domestic COVID-19 confirmed cases, we have raised the crisis alert to the highest level, 'serious,' and decided to significantly strengthen the whole-of-government response system."

In response, Director-General Tedros stated about COVID-19, "Korea has a solid and excellent response system and also has experience dealing with MERS, so I am confident that Korea will overcome this COVID-19 situation well," and added, "We will closely cooperate with the Korean government throughout this process."

Furthermore, Director-General Tedros emphasized, "Since the outbreak of COVID-19, WHO has been strengthening efforts to prevent its spread and respond effectively, especially by establishing the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) and promoting support for countries with vulnerable health systems," and stressed, "International community support is necessary."

Minister Kang agreed on the importance of joint international community efforts centered on WHO and stated that the Korean government will actively consider ways to continuously participate in these efforts.

They also discussed health security. Both sides evaluated that cooperation between Korea and WHO has been further strengthened through the Korea-WHO policy dialogue held for the first time last year, and agreed to cooperate more closely for international health security, including COVID-19 response efforts, taking advantage of Korea’s upcoming term as a WHO Executive Board member starting in May this year.

Meanwhile, immediately after meeting with Director-General Tedros, Minister Kang visited the WHO Strategic Health Operations Center, received a briefing on WHO’s COVID-19 response status, and exchanged opinions on related cooperation measures.