S. Korea, China, Japan hold conference call on coronavirus response

[艹艹艹]

S. Korea, China, Japan hold conference call on coronavirus response
Mar 17, 2020

The foreign ministries of South Korea, China and Japan held a working-level conference call on Tuesday to discuss cooperation in stemming the regional and global spread of the new coronavirus, officials said.

Kim Jung-han, director-general for Asian and Pacific affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry, joined the call with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts, Wu Jianghao and Shigeki Takizaki.

In the call, they agreed to explore ways to hold trilateral talks among the foreign ministers of their countries at an early date and continue close communication in the efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

"South Korea, China and Japan shared the understanding that cooperation through various channels is crucial to stamp out the infectious disease and prevent its transmission among the countries," the foreign ministry said in a press release.

"Also, the officials exchanged views on the need to make efforts to ensure that the containment efforts would not impede trilateral or bilateral exchanges," it added.

In the three-way call, Seoul made the proposal for the countries to ease or remove entry restrictions for at least businesspeople or others with "compelling reasons" to travel to each other's territories.

"But I heard that we did not get any answer to that proposal yet," a senior foreign ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Touching on the format of the potential talks among the top diplomats of the three countries, the official said that they could hold a video or teleconference depending on the ministers' schedules.

"I think the three countries share an understanding on the need for the ministers' talks, though no decision has been made on specifics," he said. "I heard that the countries hope to hold the talks at the earliest possible date."

Diplomats of the three countries have recently been stepping up communication to share information about their containment efforts and practices and beef up joint anti-virus efforts.

Last Friday, the foreign ministries and health authorities of South Korea and China held a videoconference on joint efforts to stop the virus outbreaks, including ensuring the stable supply of face masks and other quarantine items. (Yonhap)

 

[vi-va]

S. Korea, China, Japan hold conference call on coronavirus response
Mar 17, 2020

The foreign ministries of South Korea, China and Japan held a working-level conference call on Tuesday to discuss cooperation in stemming the regional and global spread of the new coronavirus, officials said.

Kim Jung-han, director-general for Asian and Pacific affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry, joined the call with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts, Wu Jianghao and Shigeki Takizaki.

In the call, they agreed to explore ways to hold trilateral talks among the foreign ministers of their countries at an early date and continue close communication in the efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

"South Korea, China and Japan shared the understanding that cooperation through various channels is crucial to stamp out the infectious disease and prevent its transmission among the countries," the foreign ministry said in a press release.

"Also, the officials exchanged views on the need to make efforts to ensure that the containment efforts would not impede trilateral or bilateral exchanges," it added.

In the three-way call, Seoul made the proposal for the countries to ease or remove entry restrictions for at least businesspeople or others with "compelling reasons" to travel to each other's territories.

"But I heard that we did not get any answer to that proposal yet," a senior foreign ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Touching on the format of the potential talks among the top diplomats of the three countries, the official said that they could hold a video or teleconference depending on the ministers' schedules.

"I think the three countries share an understanding on the need for the ministers' talks, though no decision has been made on specifics," he said. "I heard that the countries hope to hold the talks at the earliest possible date."

Diplomats of the three countries have recently been stepping up communication to share information about their containment efforts and practices and beef up joint anti-virus efforts.

Last Friday, the foreign ministries and health authorities of South Korea and China held a videoconference on joint efforts to stop the virus outbreaks, including ensuring the stable supply of face masks and other quarantine items. (Yonhap)

collaboration instead of confrontation is the only way to go for human-being as a whole.

 

[powastick]

Japan made a mistake, if Abe started what South Korea and China did, by now they would have been cleared of Corona.

 

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S. Korea, China, Japan, ASEAN seek joint fund for medical supplies in summit deal

The leaders of South Korea, China, Japan and ASEAN member states have agreed to push for a joint fund for medical supplies against pandemics like COVID-19, according to their joint statement released Wednesday.

The statement was adopted to summarize the results of a Special ASEAN Plus Three summit that the 13 countries held via videoconferencing the previous day to discuss joint efforts to tackle the novel coronavirus.

The participating leaders were South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, as well as their counterparts from the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The leaders agreed to "consider setting up an APT reserve of essential medical supplies that enables the rapid response to emergency needs," the document read.

"(They) reaffirmed commitments to keep markets open for trade and investment" and enhance cooperation to ensure food security and the sustainability of regional supply chains, it read.

The leaders cited essential goods, such as food, commodities, medicine and medical supplies.

They also agreed to endeavor to "maintain necessary interconnectedness in the region by facilitating to the extent possible the essential movement of people, including business travel, while ensuring the safeguarding of public health in line with our efforts to combat the pandemic as well as to minimize socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19."

The accord reflects Moon's repeated call for exempting indispensable business activities from the travel ban aimed at curbing the spread of the virus.

Among other deals reached in the session were the strengthening of the early warning system in the region for pandemics and other epidemic diseases, and regular exchanges of real-time information on relevant situations.

Speaking at the meeting, meanwhile, Moon said South Korea would offer all available support for other nations to cope with the coronavirus.

"Korea will secure additional funding for humanitarian assistance and respond to the fullest extent possible to any calls for help from other countries, including ASEAN," he said.

 

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S. Korea, China, Japan Health Ministers Likely to Hold Meeting Soon

Japan’s Kyodo News says South Korea, China and Japan are coordinating views to soon hold a meeting of their health ministers via video conference to discuss COVID-19 measures.

Quoting a senior Japanese government official on Wednesday, Kyodo said the three countries are likely to discuss conditions for easing entry restrictions based on the stabilization of COVID-19 infections in their countries.

According to the report, Japan is hoping to share views with South Korea and China on revitalizing person-to-person exchanges.

Asked when Japan will ease its entry restrictions, the senior official projected that the move would come after Tokyo fully lifts its emergency declaration.

The report comes as South Korea and China agreed earlier on April 29 to implement from May 1 a system to expedite entry of business travelers to guarantee smooth economic activities by the countries’ businesspeople.