Osong, 1 May 2025 — The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) will undergo its second Joint External Evaluation (JEE)* conducted by the WHO in August 2025. The evaluation aims to assess Korea's national capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to future public health threats, including emerging infectious diseases, chemical events, radiological emergencies, and points of entry.
* Joint External Evaluation (JEE): An assessment tool used to evaluate WHO member states’ capacities to prepare for and respond to public health threats, and to help identify areas for improvement to include in the national action plan.
The WHO launched the JEE process in 2016 to objectively measure public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities and to support the effective implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR*). Member states are recommended to undergo a JEE every five years, evaluating capacities across a wide range of sectors, including infectious disease emergency response system, zoonotic diseases, AMR, food safety, chemical events, radiation emergencies, and more.
*International Health Regulations (IHR): A regulation adopted by the WHO to prevent the spread of diseases across borders and to coordinate global public health responses.
Following the restructuring of its national response system after the MERS outbreak, Korea underwent its first JEE in 2017 and received high scores in key areas such as immunization, laboratory systems, demonstrating strong overall capacities in public health emergency preparedness and response.
Based on WHO recommendations, Korea established an inter-ministerial "One Health" cooperation framework and launched the National AMR Portal System, laying a stronger foundation for health security.
The second JEE, scheduled for late August 2025, will assess Korea’s enhanced public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities following the COVID-19 pandemic. Among advanced economies, Korea will be the second country to undergo a second JEE, after the United States, which conducted its second JEE in September 2024.
The second JEE, which will be conducted over six days from Monday, 25 August to Saturday, 30 August, will measure 56 indicators across 19 technical areas in four core domains—prevent, detect, respond, and others—with participation from 12 ministries, including the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.
The JEE process is based on Korea’s self-assessment report, with an external evaluation team visiting Korea to review the submitted report, engage in presentations with Q&A sessions, and conduct on-site visits to verify preparedness capacities.
Upon completion of the evaluation, the WHO will offer recommendations for improvements, which will be incorporated into the health emergency preparedness and response plans of each ministry to ensure effective implementation.
KDCA Commissioner Dr. Youngmee Jee stated, "This evaluation presents a critical opportunity to assess Korea's enhanced public health emergency response capabilities following the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify any remaining vulnerabilities across the entire health sector, including the infectious disease risks, in preparation for future health threats.”
She added, " As Korea undergoes its second JEE after eight years, the KDCA, in collaboration with all participating ministries, will make thorough preparations to ensure the successful conduct of the evaluation and to further elevate Korea's standing in global health security."
※ Please refer to attached files.