1. Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ham Sang Wook will visit Addis Ababa, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, from October 19 to 20.

2. During the visit, Deputy Minister Ham will attend the ceremony celebrating the Republic of Korea’s donation of medical supplies as part of its COVID-19 Comprehensive Rapid Response Program. The ROK government has been implementing this program for key partners including Ethiopia and the Africa Centres for Disease Control in order to aid the international community’s response to COVID-19.

3. Deputy Minister Ham will also meet with high-level officials of the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the African Union (AU) and discuss wide-ranging issues including joint response to COVID-19, key bilateral and multilateral issues including preparations for the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial to be hosted by the ROK government in April 2021, as well as regional and global affairs.

4. Deputy Minister Ham will be accompanied by Professor Oh Myoung-don from the School of Medicine at Seoul National University, who was appointed as Ambassador for Global Health Security by the ROK government in July. Professor Oh will meet with experts at the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office in Ethiopia and discuss ways to strengthen healthcare cooperation, including COVID-19 response.