1. Mr. Kim Gunn, Deputy Minister for Political Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited the Republic of Singapore on September 25, during which he had meetings with Second Permanent Secretary Stanley Loh and Deputy Secretary Ng Teck Hean of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as a small meeting with local Korean business people, and visited the Korea Startup Center.

2. During his meeting with Mr. Stanley Loh, Second Permanent Secretary and ASEAN SOM (Senior Officials Meeting) leader of Singapore, Deputy Minister Kim said that he was happy to be able to visit Singapore even amid the COVID-19 situation by utilizing the fast track procedure between the Republic of Korea and Singapore.

° Second Permanent Secretary Loh mentioned that Deputy Minister Kim’s visit was significant in that it is the first official visit using Singapore’s fast track procedure since its launch.

° The two sides shared their assessments of the outcome of the latest ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings and agreed to work closely together for the Summit in November to produce successful results by building on the outcome of those Meetings.

° The two sides shared the understanding on the importance of equitable access to vaccines and promoting vaccine multilateralism. Deputy Minister Kim asked for the Singaporean government’s attention to and participation in the International Vaccine Institute (IVI).

° Deputy Minister Kim, highlighting expertise and experiences of Minister for Trade Yoo Myung-hee, who is running to be selected as the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), asked for the Singaporean government’s support for the Korean candidate.

3. Deputy Minister Kim met with Deputy Secretary Ng Teck Hean and discussed ways for cooperation in overcoming COVID-19, the need to link and expand fast track procedures in the region, and the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit.

° The two sides shared their countries’ policies for COVID-19 response and exchanged views on vaccine multilateralism and ASEAN-ROK health cooperation for overcoming COVID-19.

° The two sides agreed to continue cooperation to stably maintain global supply chains and to facilitate travel of essential personnel amid the COVID-19 pandemic. They also shared the understanding that after the smooth implementation of the fast track procedure is in place, they can consider making the procedure available to a wider range of people as well as its multilateralization.

° Deputy Minister Kim underscored the importance of cooperation on such transnational threats as climate change and asked for the Singaporean government’s attention to and support for the 2^nd P4G Summit scheduled for next year.

4. Deputy Minister Kim also had a small meeting with Korean business people in Singapore and exchanged views on Korean business activities related to COVID-19.

° The Korean entrepreneurs present at the meeting commended the ROK-Singapore fast track procedure for being very helpful to businesses facing difficulties due to COVID-19, saying that, with the implementation of the procedure, it has become possible to take business trips to the ROK, when such trips to head offices had been unthinkable since the outbreak of COVID-19.

° The Korean business people mentioned that a regional connectivity and expansion of fast track procedures would pave the way for Korean businesses in Singapore to operate actively in Southeast Asia.

° They also mentioned that, even amid COVID-19 situation, the number of Singaporeans visiting local Korean restaurants is rapidly growing due to the impact of Hallyu (Korean Wave). They added that, as interest in Korean culture is greater in Singapore than ever before, active promotion of Korean culture would be helpful to local business activities.

° Deputy Minister Kim mentioned that, considering various new circumstances facing Korean businesses on the ground due to COVID-19, the ROK government will hold consultations with relevant countries.

5. Later in the day, Deputy Minister Kim visited the Korea Startup Center (KSC), during which he mentioned that the growth of startup companies will be an important engine for economic recovery amid the COVID-19 crisis and noted the opening of the KSC in Singapore, a main cooperative partner for the ROK’s New Southern Policy.