Minister of Health and Welfare Cho, KyooHong in South Korea, recently discussed the approaches to cooperate in the health and welfare field between the two countries with Catherine Raper, the Australian Ambassador to Korea.

With Australia being Korea's main partner under the Indo-Pacific Strategy, Korea and Australia have engaged in bilateral cooperation in a wide range of fields, such as pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, countermeasures to infectious diseases including COVID-19, and population policy.

Moreover, as a member of the WHO in the Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) and a member of multilateral consultative bodies, such as the G20 and APEC, they have shared and discussed various health issues, such as responding to infectious diseases, digital health, and instituting a global health system.

At this meeting, Minister Cho, KyooHong stressed the importance of international cooperation to prepare for any upcoming infectious disease crisis, and that bilateral and multilateral efforts should be made in cooperation to achieve regional health security.

To this end, it was proposed to systematise and materialise cooperation in the health and welfare field, including the advancement of research in the pharmaceutical and bio fields by leveraging the respective strengths of Korea and Australia, and the vitalization of public-private exchanges.