The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) in South Korea recently held bilateral meetings with delegations from Turkmenistan, Paraguay, and Mongolia at their request, who visited the Republic of Korea (ROK) to attend Medical Korea 2024 (held earlier this month) and discuss cooperation with the ROK in the healthcare sector.

Kim Hye-jin, the Deputy Minister for Planning and Coordination of the MOHW, met with Vice Minister Azat Ovezov of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan. The two sides discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, and shared opinions on issues of mutual interest in the sector, including cooperation in traditional medicine (Korean medicine), training programmes for healthcare professionals, and academic exchanges.

Turkmenistan healthcare professionals have completed online Medical Korea Academy training programmes in 2020, 2021 and 2023.

Deputy Minister Kim also had a meeting with Minister Maria Teresa Baran Wasilchuk of the Paraguay Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare. At the meeting, the Deputy Minister said, “I hope that the Paraguay-ROK Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the healthcare sector signed during this visit will pave the way for systematic cooperation between the two countries.”

Areas of Cooperation include universal coverage, prevention of infectious diseases, and healthcare industries including medical devices.

Deputy Minister Kim also recounted the outcomes of continued cooperation between the ROK and Mongolia, such as training of Mongolian healthcare professionals and hosting Mongolian patients, and said, “I hope that the productive cooperation between two countries will continue in the future so that more Mongolians can benefit from the ROK’s outstanding healthcare services.”