Korea's Minister of Health and Welfare Cho KyooHong recently met with Anna Tenje, the Swedish Minister for the Elderly and Social Security, and discussed cooperation between Korea and Sweden in addressing challenges related to ageing societies and broader health and welfare issues. 

The meeting, requested by the Swedish government, aimed to strengthen cooperationin health and welfare, particularly in aeging policies, on the occasion of Minister Tenje's visit to Korea.

Both ministers acknowledged the urgent need for multifaceted policy development in response to rapidly ageing populations and shared their expereiences through the introduction of their respective elderly care policies. They emphasised that mutual collaboration could transform current challenges into future opportunities.

Minister Anna Tenje commented, “Personally, as well as on a governmental level, it is meaningful to continuously strengthen the relationship between Sweden and Korea and to have the opportunity to learn from each other and gain insights into social policy areas such as population ageing, pensions, elderly care, and dementia."

Minister Cho also expressed his expectations, stating, “I look forward to identifying and developing practical cooperative measures to effectively implement the Memorandum of Understanding on Health and Welfare Cooperation, which was revised and signed in 2019 to address both countries' shared interests.”

Areas of cooperation include health policy, chronic diseases, infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, universal health coverage, health technology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, cancer, dementia, mental health, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and information and communication technologies (ICT) in healthcare systems, social security services, and population policy, among others.