The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Promotion Institute held a ROK-ASEAN Invitational Meeting to enhance Cooperation in Healthcare on Nov 29, in Seoul with ASEAN member countries. 

The meeting was attended by Kim Heonjoo, Deputy Minister of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Cho Hyunjang, President of the Korea Health Promotion Institute, from the Korean side. Malaysian Ambassador to Korea Datuk Lim Juay Jin, and officials from Embassies of Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines, and Singapore as well as Chief of the International Relations Division of the Bureau of International Health Cooperation Joel H. Buenaventura from the Department of Health of the Republic of the Philippines were other attendies.

Since the establishment of ROK-ASEAN Healthcare Dialogue Channel in August 2020, ROK and ASEAN have been carrying out various cooperative projects centered on universal health coverage (UHC) and health security.

The meeting was designed to share the results of the first phase of ROK-ASEAN cooperation projects and identify how to expand the fields of cooperation to incorporate healthcare system, health industry, health promotion, digital health and capacity building for healthcare providers in the second phase from 2024.

Deputy Minister Kim Heonjoo who is also Deputy Minister of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, “ASEAN is our most important cooperative partner, and the ROK government, as a responsible member of the international community, is ready to actively share our experience of achieving advanced-country-level in various healthcare indicators in a short period of time. I hope ROK and ASEAN to form a consensus on strengthening cooperation in the health care field, and to seek mid- to long-term plans to enhance cooperation,”