12th March, 2020
South Korea and China will hold a video conference this week on possible cooperation to fight the new coronavirus, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
According to the ministry, during the talks on Friday, the two sides will share their experience combating COVID-19 and discuss ways to jointly stem the further spread of the new virus.
The planned meeting came after President Moon Jae-in and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed to strengthen cooperation in their fight against the new virus in a phone conversation in February.
“The upcoming meeting is expected to greatly contribute to the two countries’ cooperation in response to COVID-19 down the road.
“Officials from related government organisations, such as the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention will take part in the discussion,’’ it said.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organisation declared that the virus crisis is now a pandemic, with the numbers of confirmed cases swelling across the globe.
As of Wednesday, South Korea had reported 7,869 cases of the new virus, including 66 deaths.