1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha had a telephone conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway Ine Eriksen Søreide on the afternoon of March 13 and exchanged views on such issues as the global spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and ways to respond to it.

° Minister Kang stressed that the government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) has been making all-out efforts in response to the virus through transparent and open disease control and management based on its high-level diagnostic capacity.

° Minister Søreide highly commended the ROK’s transparent and open response to COVID-19.

2. Minister Kang noted that the ROK and Norway have been working closely together in various areas. With regard to the measures Norway has taken in response to COVID-19, she asked the Norwegian side to cooperate in maintaining the essential people-to-people exchanges in order to minimize inconveniences of people of the two countries.

° Minister Søreide explained that amid the rapid growth in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Norway and Europe, the recent entry-restrictive measure had been unavoidable. On that note, she said that the two countries would continue to work together in a bid to overcome the challenge brought by COVID-19 and to maintain bilateral cooperative relations.

3. In their telephone conversation, the two Ministers, both recognizing the significance of bilateral cooperation in responding to COVID-19, agreed to continue close communication on the basis of friendship and trust between the two countries.