G20 Virtual Summit "Fair Pricing and Equitable Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines and Treatments"... President Moon Takes a Day Off on the 23rd Amid Consecutive Late-Night Summits Fatigue
[Asia Economy reporters Ryu Jeong-min, Naju-seok, Son Seon-hee] On the 23rd (Korean time), President Moon Jae-in stated at the second session of the 'Group of Twenty (G20)' summit, "We plan to establish a long-term low-carbon strategy for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 within this year and submit it to the United Nations (UN)."
President Moon explained, "Achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 is a bold challenge that requires transforming the industrial and energy structures," adding, "Joint responses to climate change are the path for humanity to maintain survival, including the prevention of new infectious diseases."
Having attended summit meetings weekly since the 13th, President Moon took a day off on the 23rd. Blue House spokesperson Kang Min-seok said, "For two weeks, summits were held every Friday, mostly starting late at night and ending around 1 a.m. President Moon decided to take a day off today after completing all summit diplomatic schedules around 1 a.m. This is his first use of leave this year."
The '2020 G20 Summit' hosted by Saudi Arabia concluded its two-day schedule early that morning with the adoption of the leaders' declaration. Notably, G20 leaders including President Moon, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to make every effort to ensure that treatments and vaccines for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are distributed equitably at affordable prices.
The G20 leaders stated, "We recognize that immunity achieved through widespread vaccination is a global public good." They emphasized, "We will do our utmost to ensure that diagnostic tools, treatments, and vaccines for COVID-19 are distributed equitably and at affordable prices to all people."
Furthermore, the G20 leaders pledged, "We will continue efforts to create fair competition conditions to promote a friendly business environment," and "We will continue to seek concrete measures to facilitate the movement of people in ways that do not undermine our efforts to protect public health." This reflects the content emphasized by President Moon and indicates that South Korea's demands were incorporated into the leaders' declaration.
The G20 decided to extend the 'Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI)' for low-income countries by six months to support them. This measure allows low-income countries to allocate their finances to quarantine and healthcare instead of debt repayment next year.
Initially, the UN and the World Bank requested an extension of the debt service suspension until the end of next year, but this was not accepted for now. The G20 agreed to review an additional six-month extension until the end of next year at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) Spring Meetings early next year.
According to the G20, through the DSSI, 46 out of 73 low-income countries were able to defer debts amounting to $5.7 billion (6.35 trillion KRW) this year. The G20 also encouraged private creditors to participate in debt suspension, but debt suspension for Chinese state-owned enterprises' private debts has not been implemented. Although not included in the official agreement, the policy direction was set to consider debt restructuring for countries struggling due to COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the G20 leaders stated, "As a symbol of humanity's resilience and global unity, we commend Japan's decision to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games next year."
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