1. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Taeho participated in a multilateral teleconference on COVID-19 response among the vice foreign ministers of 7 countries in the region on the morning of July 31.

° The teleconference among the vice foreign ministers of 7 countries -- the Republic of Korea, the United States of America, Japan, the Commonwealth of Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of India, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam -- had taken place ten times from March 20 to June 12, and the teleconference held today marked the 11th one.

2. In the teleconference, the vice foreign ministers exchanged views on ways to facilitate cooperation on COVID-19 response in the region and to resume economic activities and international travel safely, and the development and stable distribution of vaccines and therapeutics.

3. Vice Minister Lee explained that, although the COVID-19 situation has been relatively well controlled in the ROK, amid the recent increase in imported cases from overseas, the ROK government has been continuing efforts to halt the spread of COVID-19, including requiring inbound travelers from countries, which have been designated to apply reinforced quarantine measures, to submit a certificate proving that they have tested negative for the virus.

° The Vice Minister added that the ROK government, at the same time, is continuing international cooperation to minimize negative economic and social impact of COVID-19, including ensuring travel of essential workforce, such as business people; is cautiously resuming face-to-face diplomacy, as could be seen from the recent visits to the ROK by Deputy Secretary of State of the United States Biegun, the Deputy Prime-Minister for Investments and Foreign Economic Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary; and will continue to share the ROK’s experiences in resuming diplomatic activities.

° The Vice Minister mentioned that, even amid the global economic slowdown, the ROK has recorded a relatively low level of economic recession by actively implementing economic revitalization policy.

° The Vice Minister also explained that the ROK government had recently announced the Korean New Deal Initiative to transform the Korean economy into a next-generation economy in the post-COVID-19 era. He added that the ROK government seeks to transform Korea into a “pace-setter” after the pandemic by achieving its goal of making 1.9 million jobs through the investment of 160 trillion won until 2025, focusing on the three pillars, namely, the Digital New Deal, the Green New Deal, and Strengthening Safety Nets.

° The Vice Minister, recalling the recent call of President Moon Jae-in and the leaders of seven countries, including the Prime Minister of New Zealand, for equal global access to COVID-19 vaccines, suggested that the countries continue to collaborate on the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, including through the COVAX Facility, a global system for vaccine distribution.

4. The vice ministers shared the understanding that, amid the prolonged COVID-19 crisis, it is important for the countries in the region to communicate and collaborate closely, and agreed to continue consultations as necessary.