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South Korean President Moon Jae-in takes a phone call with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at the Blue House on Mar. 24. (provided by the Blue House)

During a telephone call with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Mar. 24, South Korean President Moon Jae-in promised to give the international community access to the clinical data and experience that the South Korean government has accumulated while fighting the COVID-19 epidemic and treating the disease.

In their 20-minute phone call, Sánchez and Moon swapped opinions about how the two countries could cooperate to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, said Blue House spokesperson Kang Min-seok.

“Considering that the COVID-19 pandemic is not a problem for any one country, but a challenge for the entire world, cooperation and solidarity in the international community is more important than ever before. During the special video summit that the G20 leaders are holding on Thursday [Mar. 26] to discuss ways of dealing COVID-19, a unified and consistent message needs to be communicated to the world. I hope the meeting will involve an in-depth discussion of types of international cooperation related to both disease control and the economy,” Moon said.

Sánchez responded by saying he hoped to learn from South Korea’s response to COVID-19 and by asking South Korea to help by sending medical supplies. “I’d like to congratulate the South Korean government on its great success in combatting COVID-19. During the special G20 video summit, I look forward to learning about South Korea’s innovative campaign to beat the coronavirus and the measures it has taken to respond to the crisis,” the Spanish prime minister said.

Sánchez “asked for South Korea to send medical supplies and to arrange video conferences with South Korean infectious disease experts to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in Spain,” said Kang.

“The pandemic that we’re observing right now is not a regional issue, but a global issue. Countries can’t deal with this on their own; they need to join forces and take collective action,” Sánchez said.

As of 7 pm on Tuesday, Spain had more than 35,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 2,300 deaths.

Moon has recently received phone calls from world leaders, including the French president and the Swedish prime minister, asking South Korea to share its experience and methods of combatting COVID-19.

By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter

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