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A NATO cargo plane arrives at Incheon International Airport from Romania to transport South Korean medical equipment on Mar. 27. (Yonhap News)

With the novel coronavirus spreading around the world, 117 countries have reportedly asked South Korea to export disease control items and provide humanitarian assistance.

“There have been 31 countries that have asked for disease control item exports, 30 that have asked for humanitarian assistance, and 20 that have asked for both, with a total of 81 countries doing so through the official [diplomatic] line,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) senior official said while meeting with reporters on Mar. 27. If the 36 countries involved in cooperation at the private business level are factored in, the number of countries requesting exports and/or assistance totals 117, the official said.

On Mar. 26, the government discussed ideas for overseas expansion of disease control items at an inaugural meeting of its “task force of ministries related to support for overseas expansion of coronavirus disease control items.” The same official said, “The items we’re focusing on exporting are diagnostic kits, since we have the most of them to spare and they’re an area of strength.”

“South Korean companies have the capacity to export around 3.3 million [diagnostic kits] a week while still absorbing maximum domestic demand,” the official explained, adding that overseas demand for South Korea’s diagnostic kits in particular has been rising at an explosive rate, as they can produce findings within six hours and a store of data has been amassed from around 360,000 reliable test results.

The government plans to pursue both commercial exports and assistance going forward. The official said, “We’re planning to pursue support selectively, taking into account the country’s public health demands, the economic benefits, and South Korea’s foreign policy.”

“The [country] receiving the most priority consideration is the US,” the official added.

“The US has seen an explosive increase in diagnoses, and President [Donald] Trump has requested [support] from us. From the standpoint of the South Korea-US alliance, the US has not imposed an entry ban on South Koreans, and it’s completed a currency swap [with South Korea], and we feel that we need to have measures corresponding to that.”

As additional countries receiving priority consideration, the official mentioned the United Arab Emirates, where “cooperation has been taking place in various forms,” and Indonesia, which is “one of the key countries in the New Southern Policy.” Romania has also flown in South Korean protective gear and diagnostic kits using NATO transport aircraft on two occasions.

The official also said South Korea plans to “actively expand into the UN procurement market.”

“South Korea’s rate of UN procurement market expansion is low relative to our capacities in areas such as pharmaceuticals and vaccines, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to actively support areas like vendor registration,” the official explained.

By Park Min-hee, staff reporter

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