By Honorary Reporters Evi Nur Azizah from Indonesia

Photos = 2019 ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit

President Moon Jae-in (right) shakes hands with Indonesian President Joko Widodo before their bilateral summit on Nov. 25, 2019 in Busan

In early April, the Korean government provided assistance to Indonesia in the form of disinfectant sprayers handed over by Korea Ambassador to Indonesia Kim Chang-beom. On April 4, he gave 300 sprayers to Hermansyah, general secretary of the National Disaster Management Agency of Indonesia.

Korea also sent PCR test kits to its Southeast Asian ally. According to The Jakarta Post, around 50,000 test kits arrived at Soekarno Hatta Airport on April 4.

Korea's assistance shows how close the country is to Indonesia. I collected responses from several friends on this, and they were all positive despite a few being unaware of the aid.

Most of my friends expressed gratitude to the Korean government. One said, "As an Indonesian, I'm happy with the PCR test kits from Korea. Thus Indonesia can break the (pandemic) or at least inhibit the spread with these tools. I also really hope that the (Indonesian) government can conduct regular tests on people who have been affected quickly."

Providing aid to countries in need like Korea did to Indonesia not only shows a high sense of solidarity but also of human values. Korea targeting Indonesia for such assistance doesn't mean that the latter is weak, but displays the need for togetherness and cohesiveness to fight the plague attacking Indonesia and the world.

Many attempts to overcome this pandemic have come in the forms of policymaking and provision of medical devices, two actions taken by Korea that were recognized by the world. The hope is that such aid can help Indonesia do better during the crisis.

Bilateral cooperation between both countries will hopefully continue well into the future not only in economics and politics, but also in other fields like education, culture and welfare.

chaey0726@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.