[Editorial] The world can only defeat the coronavirus when it cooperates as a global community

Posted on : 2020-03-26 17:26 KST Modified on : 2020-03-26 17:26 KST
South Korean President Moon Jae-in takes a phone call with US President Donald Trump at the Blue House on Mar. 24. (provided by the Blue House)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in takes a phone call with US President Donald Trump at the Blue House on Mar. 24. (provided by the Blue House)

The leaders of the G20 economies will be holding a video conference on Mar. 26. This summit is particularly notable since it’s being held as the unprecedented global spread of COVID-19 reaches a critical inflection point. We hope this will be an opportunity to create a mechanism of international cooperation on controlling and treating the disease and actively responding to the global economic crisis resulting from the pandemic.

Since the virus was first discovered in China at the end of last year, the measures that various countries have taken against the contagion have generally reflected an “every man for himself” mentality, such as unilateral bans on the entry of foreigners or the export of medical equipment. The pandemic has even provoked severe conflict between the US and China, who have attempted to blame each other for the origin and spread of the disease.

But viruses don’t respect national borders. Effectively controlling the contagion requires cooperation and joint action from the international community. In a global era, in which the whole world is closely stitched together, it’s a fool’s errand for any single country to assume it alone can keep the infection at bay. Given COVID-19’s unprecedented transmission rate, countries shouldn’t assume they’re safe as long as the virus remains active anywhere on the planet. We need to keep cooperating with the spirit of all being members of a global community.

The global suffering currently being caused by the spread of the virus is twofold. Not only are many people suffering a threat to their life and health, but economic difficulties are increasing because of the cessation of trade, investment, and productive activity. During this summit, the G20 leaders need to seek a balance between stopping the influx of infected individuals from overseas, in order to keep the disease under control, and guaranteeing reasonable international economic activity. They also need to discuss sharing clinical experience and quarantine systems, international cooperation to quickly develop a vaccine and forms of treatment, and the coordination of fiscal and monetary policy to minimize the economic shock.

The G20 summit was first proposed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in during a telephone call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Mar. 13. South Korea has been praised by people around the world for the pioneering role it’s playing in disease control. Many countries are reportedly keeping a close eye on South Korea’s experience with combatting COVID-19. The fact that US President Donald Trump asked Moon to provide medical equipment on Mar. 24 effectively demonstrates South Korea’s growing prestige. During this summit, we hope that Moon will share South Korea’s disease control experience and cases studies with the international community and play an instrumental role in further developing solutions to the pandemic.

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

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