1. On March 20, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Sei-young discussed ways for cooperation in COVID-19 response in a multilateral teleconference with his counterparts of 6 countries in the region for about 40 minutes from 10:30, Korea Standard Time.

o The teleconference, arranged at the proposal of the United States (U.S.), was joined by vice foreign ministers of 7 countries - the Republic of Korea, the U.S., Japan, the Commonwealth of Australia, New Zealand, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, and the Republic of India.

2. Amid the growing need for international collaboration in the face of the global spread of COVID-19, the vice foreign ministers shared their respective countries’ experience on containment, support for overseas nationals, and COVID-19-related information sharing and communication, and exchanged views on the direction of future cooperation.

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3. Vice Minister Cho explained that the ROK has recently witnessed a downward trend in the number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases as well as a relatively low fatality rate compared to the global average as a result of the ROK government’s robust efforts, but that the ROK continues to be vigilant and proactively respond to risk factors.

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o Vice Minister Cho pointed out the need to consider granting exceptions and allowing businesspeople on essential trips to pass through borders in order to minimize restriction on economic exchanges, despite the current COVID-19 situation. He went on to suggest that the countries work together to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on international economy while effectively curbing the spread of the virus.

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4. The vice ministers, who took part in the teleconference, shared the view on the benefits of such multilateral communication for international collaboration for overcoming the COVID-19 crisis. They agreed to continue such consultation to share the progress and response experience in each country, and to work closely together.