1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha had a multilateral teleconference with her counterparts of major countries for about 70 minutes from 20:00, May 11 (Korea Standard Time), and discussed ways for international cooperation on COVID-19 response.

o The teleconference brought together the foreign ministers of 7 countries -- the Republic of Korea, the United States of America, which proposed the teleconference, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of India, the State of Israel, and Japan.

2. The foreign ministers shared the view that close communication and collaboration among countries is essential for responding to the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and exchanged views on various areas including response in earliest phase of COVID-19 outbreak; preventing another outbreak; prompt and transparent information sharing; international cooperation to revitalize the economy.

3. Minister Kang explained that by sharing information transparently and promptly from the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak, the ROK government has earned trust at home and abroad and has actively contributed to laying the foundation for joint response to COVID-19. She went on to stress the importance of prompt and transparent information sharing regarding COVID-19.

o In addition, Minister Kang explained that while the COVID-19 situation in Korea has been stabilizing due to our efforts such as “3T (Test, Trace, Treat),” we are seeing the number of new COVID-19 cases increasing to double-digit figures recently due to community spread. She pointed out that this shows how we cannot let our guard down in our response to COVID-19.

o Minister Kang also said that the ROK has been actively contributing to the international community’s efforts to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, including by providing and exporting medical equipment that is in good supply in the ROK as well as sharing our experiences in disease control.

o Furthermore, Minister Kang noted that to revitalize the economy, it is necessary to resume people-to-people exchanges among countries, including essential movement of businesspeople, restore transportation networks, keep open global markets, and develop and supply vaccines and therapeutics. She went on to emphasize the importance of international cooperation to do so.

4. The foreign ministers commended the U.S. for playing a leading role in discussing international cooperation to combat COVID-19, including holding this teleconference among the foreign ministers, and agreed to continue close communication and collaboration based on the candid and meaningful discussions on COVID-19 response at the teleconference.