1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha attended a webinar on digital cooperation during COVID-19 and beyond, co-hosted by the United Nations (UN) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) at 09:00, May 13, New York time, and discussed “public health, digital responses and human rights.”

° The webinar brought together people from governments, international organizations, businesses and academic circles, including UN Under Secretary-General in charge of digital cooperation Fabrizio Hochschild, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Dunja Mijatovic, and Vice-President of Microsoft Corporation Steve Crown, as speakers.

2. Minister Kang explained that the ROK government had dealt effectively with the COVID-19 situation through its 3T (Test, Trace and Treat) response strategy based on openness, transparency and civic participation, and as a result, it could safely administer transition to “distancing in everyday life.” She added that, in the process, it has sought to win trust from the people through efforts to reach a balance between disease control measures and human rights.

° In particular, the Minister mentioned that the ROK government’s disease control measures, including contact tracing and the release of information regarding movements of COVID-19 patients, are based on the “Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act” and that, in order to protect privacy and personal information, the government has set and has been implementing guidelines on the period and scope of information disclosure.

3. The webinar, hosted by the UN Secretariat with the purpose to promote digital cooperation and attended by about 300 people, including those from governments, international organizations, businesses, and academic circles, each time, is serving as a good opportunity to share digital policies and best practices regarding COVID-19 response. The latest conference was the 5^th meeting.