1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha attended the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s video conference on the “COVID Action Platform” on March 25.

° The conference brought together not only Minister Kang but also Chancellor of the Republic of Austria Sebastian Kurz, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) Richard Hatchett, Chairman of AstraZeneca Leif Johansson, Chairman of Simens&Maerks Jim Snabe, CEO of Unilever Alan Jope, and Chief Executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) Charles Li, among others, as speakers.

2. Under the theme of “World Update,” Minister Kang explained as follows the current situation in the Republic of Korea (ROK), which has overcome the initial serious phase and has been making efforts to normalize the situation.

° The Minister stressed that the ROK has conducted a huge number of tests based on the principles of openness and transparency as well as its overwhelming diagnostic capacity, and that, in the process, the active cooperation of citizens, above all, has contributed greatly to responding to COVID-19.

° In particular, ahead of the opening of schools in April following its postponement, the ROK is carrying out a strong, nation-wide, two-week social distancing campaign in a bid to prevent the possibility of cluster infections in advance.

° The Minister mentioned that as social and economic difficulties continue due to COVID-19, the ROK government has announced its plan to provide large-scale immediate assistance and has been continuing to draw up specific ways to successfully support the needs of small business owners and vulnerable groups.

3. Chancellor of Austria Kurz explained the current situation of Austria, which is relatively at an early stage. In particular, among the speakers, the Director-General of the WHO and the CEO of CEPI noted that the ROK is serving as an exemplary case for other countries.