By Yoon Sojung
Special Secretary to the President for Public Communication Park Soo-hyun on June 14 said the world values Korea's attendance at the summit of the Group of Seven (G7) economies as a new member state.
On the MBC show "2 p.m. News Supplement Story," he said, "Korea made it a very special summit as the only non-member of the Commonwealth of Nations to be among the four invited guest countries, unlike India, Australia and the Republic of South Africa."
On what made Korea receive global recognition, Secretary Park said, "What matters most in the COVID-19 pandemic era is how to overcome this issue."
He also quoted other leaders who attended the first session on health care of the extended summit.
For example, he quoted U.S. President Joe Biden as saying the Korea-U.S. summit was the best, and that President Moon's Jae-in's participation in the G7 summit would make the event go smoothly. The secretary also noted that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson dubbed Korea "one of the world's top model countries for disinfection," something United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres agreed with.
"What matters most is vaccine diplomacy," the secretary said about the summit. He added that President Moon will hold talks with the CEOs of leading pharmaceutical companies during his state visit to Austria following his consultation with AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot on June 12 on the sidelines of the summit in Cornwall.
"Vaccine diplomacy is boosting the stability of securing COVID-19 vaccines, expanding the global vaccine partnership with the G7, not just with the U.S., and raising the safety of the vaccines while securing diversity and multilateralism to become a global hub nation.”
arete@korea.kr