Minister Kang Kyung-hwa Presents South Korea's COVID-19 Response at WEF Virtual Meeting

WHO Secretary-General and CEPI Chair: "Korea is a Model Case for Other Countries"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha participated in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) 'COVID Action Platform' virtual meeting on the 25th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.

In addition to Minister Kang Kyung-wha, the meeting featured presentations by Sebastian Kurz, Chancellor of Austria; Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO); Richard Hatchett, Chairman of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI); Life Johannson, Chairman of AstraZeneca; Jim Snabe, CEO of Siemens & Maerks; Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever; and Charles Li, CEO of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX).

The World Economic Forum launched the 'COVID Action Platform' on March 11 to discuss responses to COVID-19, holding virtual meetings involving experts from various fields including governments, international organizations, and companies (over 200 WEF member companies).

Minister Kang explained South Korea's current situation under the theme of "World Update," describing efforts to overcome the initial severe situation and move towards normalization.

Minister Kang emphasized that large-scale testing based on principles of openness and transparency and overwhelming diagnostic capacity, along with the active cooperation of citizens, have greatly contributed to the COVID-19 response. In particular, she noted that ahead of the school reopening postponed to April, a strong nationwide campaign for social distancing is being conducted over the next two weeks to preemptively block the possibility of mass infections.

Furthermore, Minister Kang introduced that due to ongoing social and economic difficulties caused by COVID-19, the government has announced a large-scale immediate support plan and is continuously devising specific measures to ensure that necessary support reaches small business owners and vulnerable groups accurately.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "Austrian Chancellor Kurz described Austria's situation, which is relatively in the early stages," and added, "The WHO Director-General and the Chairman of CEPI mentioned that South Korea is setting an exemplary case for other countries."