1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha had a telephone conversation with Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain Arancha González Laya on the afternoon of January 8 at the latter’s request and discussed cooperation on response to COVID-19, cooperation at the international level, and situations in Northeast Asia and other major regions.

2. The two Ministers took note that the entire world is experiencing the third wave of COVID-19, which is stronger than the first two ones, but that recently we are witnessing gradual improvement in the situation. Sharing the two countries’ situations including the current status of the procurement of vaccines, they agreed to continue bilateral and multilateral cooperation in responding to COVID-19.

° In this regard, Foreign Minister Kang voiced hope that the procedure for Spain’s accession to the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), headquartered in Korea, would be completed as soon as possible.

3. Foreign Minister Kang also asked the Spanish government to participate at the highest level in the Partnership for Green Growth and Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit to be hosted by the Korean government in 2021.

4. The two sides shared their views on situations in Northeast Asia and other major regions and agreed to continue close communication on key global affairs of mutual interest.