People Power Party Vaccine Alliance Promotion US Visit Delegation "Consensus on Vaccine Securing Achieved"

"US Requests Exchange Between Surplus and Korea's Confirmed Purchases for Second Half"

People Power Party members Park Jin (right) and Choi Hyung-doo are holding a press conference on May 10 at the National Assembly Communication Office in Yeouido, Seoul, announcing a party resolution submission urging active promotion of vaccine diplomacy to overcome the COVID-19 crisis and the establishment of a Korea-US partnership. 2021.5.10 [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Regarding the COVID-19 vaccine swap, the People Power Party's Vaccine Alliance Promotion Delegation visiting the United States announced on the 19th that they have reached a consensus with the U.S. side on securing vaccines.

The People Power Party delegation requested through meetings with the U.S. Congress, administration, think tanks, and the global vaccine pharmaceutical industry to exchange the current surplus doses in the U.S. with the confirmed purchase quantities for the second half of the year by Korea. The vaccine swap concept is inspired by the Korea-U.S. alliance cooperation case during the global financial crisis triggered by the 2008 Lehman Brothers incident, where the Korea and U.S. authorities prevented Korea's financial foreign exchange crisis through a currency swap. According to the current government’s announcement, 4.56 million doses of Pfizer will arrive within the second quarter, but through the vaccine swap, the plan is to use the Pfizer stockpiles stored in the U.S. earlier and return the third and fourth quarter quantities that the government is scheduled to receive back to the U.S.

The delegation emphasized, "There is a basis for promotion in Chapter 5 of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA)." According to Chapter 5 of the agreement, it states that "both countries shall promote the development and access to generic and patented pharmaceuticals," which the delegation explained makes this possible.

After completing the planned schedule, the delegation plans to propose the establishment of a "COVID-19 Vaccine Hub Special Committee" to the National Assembly upon returning to Korea. They intend to propose to the Speaker of the National Assembly and the leadership of both ruling and opposition parties to promptly form a bipartisan organization for Korea-U.S. vaccine cooperation, which will be concretized through the Korea-U.S. summit, and for building a global vaccine hub.