문대통령 "개도국 코로나백신 지원에 1천만달러 기여"
President Moon Jae-in continued his diplomacy with Southeast Asia today taking part in a virtual summit with the leaders of countries along the Mekong River.
Here, he pledged 10 million U.S. dollars for Covid-19 vaccine development to developing countries through COVAX.
Our senior Blue House correspondent Kim Min-ji reports.
South Korea will provide 10 million U.S. dollars in COVID-19 vaccine support for developing countries.
President Moon Jae-in announced the plan Friday at the virtually-held South Korea-Mekong summit.
This will be done through 'COVAX' a global initiative aimed at providing countries with equal access to safe and effective vaccines.
South Korea and the Mekong nations will work together to provide quarantine equipment and increase public healthcare capacity. We will cooperate to secure universal and fair access to vaccines.
South Korea and the Mekong River nations Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand also agreed to form a strategic partnership for people, prosperity and peace.... as proposed by President Moon.
Moon noted the already successful cooperation between the two sides saying that trade volume so far this year is similar to that of last year...despite the economic situation caused by COVID-19.
South Korea is also planning to raise its contribution to the Mekong-South Korea cooperation fund from this year's 3 million dollars to 4 million in 2021.
I proposed today to advance our relationship into a "strategic partnership." I hope the Mekong nations and South Korea can overcome the COVID-19 outbreak through trust and unity, embracement and co-prosperity, and transition into a post-virus era together.
The leaders also discussed ways to further cooperate in seven prioritized fields that were agreed upon during their first summit in 2019 culture and tourism, human resources development, agriculture and rural development, infrastructure, ICT, as well as environmental and non-traditional security challenges.
President Moon says the strategic partnership will open new horizon in cooperation,… noting that 2021 marks a decade since cooperative ties began between South Korea and the Mekong nations.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.
