Korea-Latin America Future Cooperation Forum, "Strengthening Health and Quarantine Solidarity to Prepare for the New Normal Era"

Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia and Other Four Countries' Ministerial-Level Officials Attend in Person

From the left, Oh Myung-don, Ambassador for Global Health Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Adriana Bola?os, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica; Luis Gallegos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador; Kang Kyung-wha, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Park Neung-hoo, Minister of Health and Welfare; Luis Alexander, Vice Minister of Health of Colombia; Yvette Berr?o, Vice Minister of Health of Panama; Hwang Kyung-tae, Director General for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 23rd, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Welfare held the "2020 Korea-Latin America Future Cooperation Forum" with the participation of ministers from each ministry, officials from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the International Vaccine Institute, the Pan-Government New Drug Development Project Group, the Korea International Cooperation Agency, and for the first time since the spread of COVID-19, high-ranking officials including vice ministers from four Latin American countries.

From the Latin American side, vice ministers from four countries?Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, and Colombia?attended in person, while vice ministers from Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil participated via pre-recorded videos.

Kang Kyung-wha, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in her opening remarks, "We appreciate the close cooperation between Korea and Latin America based on the spirit of solidarity and cooperation since the spread of COVID-19," adding, "Going forward, let us concretize cooperation in health and quarantine sectors and expand cooperation into areas such as digital technology and climate change to prepare for the post-COVID-19 new normal era."

In particular, Minister Kang added that through the "Korea-Latin America Digital New Deal Cooperation Dialogue," scheduled to be held in Seoul in March next year, digital cooperation will be concretized, and she expressed hope that Korean companies will become optimal partners in infrastructure construction cooperation with Latin America in the post-COVID-19 era.

Following this, Park Neung-hoo, Minister of Health and Welfare, said in his welcoming remarks, "We hope to share Korea's successful COVID-19 response experience based on 'openness, democracy, and creativity,' and to strengthen the foundation for health and medical cooperation between Korea and Latin America in the post-COVID-19 era based on existing health cooperation experiences."

Minister Park proposed that Korea and Latin America unite to end COVID-19 by sharing experiences related to Korea's core '3T' (Test-Trace-Treat) strategy and emphasized "joint efforts in training medical personnel, ICT and digital healthcare cooperation, and fair supply of vaccines and therapeutics."

In response, Luis Gallegos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, evaluated that the Korea-Latin America Future Cooperation Forum, led by the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has brought Korea-Latin America relations closer, stating, "Korea holds a very important position as a development model for Latin America, which aims for sustainable growth and economic and social prosperity," and added, "We hope that the traditional cooperative relationship between Korea and Latin America will develop into a higher level of cooperation preparing for the post-COVID-19 era through this forum."

At this forum, participants from both sides had in-depth discussions on strengthening cooperation in areas such as pharmaceuticals and digital healthcare, using Korea's "K-Quarantine" as a medium, in response to Latin America's COVID-19 response status and health and quarantine cooperation demands.

In Session 1, titled "Building Korea-Latin America Solidarity for Infectious Disease Response in the New Normal Era," the current COVID-19 response status of Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Uruguay, and Korea was shared, opinions on future response directions were exchanged, and possibilities for cooperation using Latin America's health ODA were explored.

In Session 2, titled "Establishing International Cooperation Partnerships for Infectious Disease Treatment and Prevention," the current status of COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutic development in the international community and each country was reviewed, and ways to expand cooperation between Korea and Latin American countries in vaccine and therapeutic development and production were discussed.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "This forum is evaluated as an opportunity to elevate the cooperative relationship between Korea and Latin America in the pharmaceutical and digital healthcare sectors to the next level by discussing COVID-19 response and recovery measures together with the participation of many high-level officials from the diplomatic and health sectors of Korea and Latin America for the first time since COVID-19."