Korean diplomat praises outcome of ASEAN+3 Summit on COVID-19

Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks at the summit (Photo: VNA)

Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (RoK) to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Lim Sungnam made the comment in an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s reporter in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 14.

“As you might be aware, G20 and EU have held their summit meetings to discuss the impact of COVID-19 and the way forward. But ASEAN Plus Three has had their first online, their first videoconferences to talk about the impact of COVID-19 and the joint solutions for the problems we are faced with. And the joint solutions for the future have been a very meaningful step forward in our efforts to eradicate COVID-19,” he said.

Lim stressed that the RoK is ready to cooperate with ASEAN in the join fight against COVID-19. More specifically, the RoK is prepared to make contributions to the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund for various projects and various assistance programmes for ASEAN member states in their fight against COVID-19, he elaborated.

At the same time, the RoK is also ready to host web conferences - a kind of online conference - for the ASEAN member states, doctors and medical specialists together with their Korean counterparts, so that they can share their best practices as well as their know-how and experiences in their fight against the pandemic, Lim said.

The RoK is also very much interested and is ready to hold the ASEAN-Korea health ministers meeting so that ASEAN and the RoK can engage in very specific and concrete discussions about how the sides work together to combat COVID-19.

“The motto of Vietnam as Chair of ASEAN for this year is cohesive and responsive. And indeed, Vietnam has shown the cohesive and responsive leadership by organising the special summit on COVID-19 for the ASEAN Plus Three in a very timely manner,” the ambassador stressed.