President Moon's Proposal for 'Guaranteeing Business Activities' Receives Positive Response from Major G20 Countries

G20 Special Video Summit on the 26th Focuses on South Korea's COVID-19 Response... President Moon Visits Diagnostic Kit Company for Encouragement

[Asia Economy reporters Jungmin Ryu and Sunhee Son] Major world leaders are sending positive signals in response to President Moon Jae-in's proposal that the COVID-19 pandemic should not hinder business activities.

In particular, ahead of the 'G20 Special Virtual Summit' on the 26th, President Moon has surpassed the critical stage of realizing his proposal by gaining agreement not only from Saudi Arabia, the chair country, but also from U.S. President Donald Trump.

During a phone call with President Trump on the 24th, President Moon said, "At the G20 Special Virtual Summit to be held the day after tomorrow (26th), it is important for leaders to send a united message on both quarantine and the economy," adding, "I hope that international cooperation measures such as revitalizing trade and ensuring business activities can be discussed in depth."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This is a proposal to minimize the negative impact of COVID-19 on the global economy by expanding the scope of businesspeople's activities within the limits that do not hinder each country's quarantine efforts. Blue House spokesperson Kang Min-seok explained, "President Trump also agreed with this and responded, 'Let's have a good discussion at the G20 Special Virtual Summit.'"

On the same day, during a call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Moon expressed his hope that "international cooperation measures such as ensuring business activities will be discussed in depth." Crown Prince Mohammed said, "We are ready to cooperate with Korea on any issue," and proposed revitalizing global trade exchanges as an agenda item for the G20 virtual summit.

At the G20 virtual summit, Korea's case, which has emerged as a model country in responding to COVID-19, is expected to attract the attention of major world leaders. President Moon, who proposed the G20 virtual summit, has recently emphasized the necessity of ensuring business activities during successive phone calls with major world leaders. As major countries publicly requested support for Korea, Korea's status in the international community has also risen.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In this regard, it is also noteworthy that a Korea-U.S. summit call took place at President Trump's urgent proposal. President Trump requested Korea's medical equipment support and emphasized, "I will take immediate action so that approval can be granted today." This amounted to a full commitment to support approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

On the 25th, President Moon visited a company that received emergency use approval for COVID-19 diagnostic reagents and encouraged the researchers' hard work. Through a meeting with representatives of the diagnostic reagent industry, he praised the recognition of the excellence of the Korean-style quarantine system due to rapid response and accurate testing for COVID-19.

President Moon said that export requests from countries around the world prove the accuracy and technological capability of Korea's diagnostic methods can be trusted, and he emphasized the significance of simplifying medical device review procedures to prevent infectious disease pandemics.

Earlier, on January 27, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requested emergency use approval plans and diagnostic reagent development from private reagent developers. Considering the special circumstances of the Lunar New Year holiday, meeting rooms were arranged inside Seoul Station to accommodate the companies. It is said that Korea's ability to respond quickly in the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis was based on a close cooperative system between quarantine authorities and companies.

Blue House Press Secretary Han Jung-woo explained, "The industry had abundant knowledge about COVID-19 diagnosis through their efforts so far and was able to fully utilize the experimental methods developed by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."