At a hospital in Daegu, RoK (Photo: Yonhap) Seoul (VNA) – Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs of theRepublic of Korea Gunn Kim has said the online ASEAN+3 meeting, scheduled forApril 14, will pool political determination of leaders to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the meeting, leaders of the ASEAN member states together withChina, the Republic of Korea and Japan will discuss ways to overcome thepandemic and mitigate its harmful impact on regional socio-economic development.
In a recent interview granted to Vietnam News Agency in Seoul,Kim said even when a country successfully contains the pandemic, it is stilllikely to break out again due to external sources, which is faced by the RoK atpresent.
According to him, RoK President Moon Jae-in will focus on three main points at the event,including enhancing medical cooperation to ensure that ASEAN and the RoK, Japanand China will become safer, mitigating the toll on the socio-economic aspect in eachcountry, and responding to problems arising from the pandemic.
Concluding the event,leaders will offer ideas to cope with the pandemic.
About preparations forthe event, Kim said it is an unprecedented crisis and when countries proposedholding the meeting, Vietnam answered quickly and prepared for its timely gathering.The nation also played a major role in drafting the joint statement followingthe event.
Expressing thanks toVietnam which is playing the role of the ASEAN Chair 2020, Kim said he believes that the first online ASEAN+3 meetingwill be a success./.
