Second Vice-Minister of Health and Welfare in South Korea, Park Minsoo attended the 16th Tripartite Health Ministers' Meeting, which was held recently in Beijing, China, to discuss ways of strengthening cooperation in healthcare, including joint responses to infectious diseases, under the theme of “Work together for a healthier and safer future”.

At the first face-to-face meeting in four years, the representatives of the three countries (South Korea, China and Japan) confirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral and tripartite strategic cooperation in the area of healthcare, including health security for peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region.

Specifically, the health ministers of the three countries endorsed a joint statement, the final outcome of the meeting, signed a Memorandum of Consideration (MoC), and agreed to expressly stipulate that “the three countries shall work together to jointly respond to public health crisis” including future pandemics at the next Trilateral Summit.

During his visit to China, Vice-Minister Park Minsoo also attended bilateral meetings with representatives of China, the chair country of the tripartite meeting, Japan, and the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WPRO).

Notably, Korea and China signed a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral healthcare cooperation, under which the two countries agreed to expand cooperation in new fields including digital health.