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South Korean President Moon Jae-in gives a speech during a teleconference for the World Health Assembly on May 18. (provided by the Blue House)

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on May 18 that “solidarity and cooperation grounded in the spirit of liberty are the most powerful weapons to allow us to win the war against the coronavirus.” His remarks named openness, transparency, and democracy as keys to overcoming the outbreak, as opposed to isolation and blockade measures.

Invited to deliver a speech in a teleconference for the World Health Assembly that day, President Moon explained that the “people of South Korea chose a path of freedom for all to triumph over the coronavirus.”

“Rather than isolating and sealing ourselves off and regarding our neighbors as threats who might spread the virus, we first took steps to guard our neighbors’ safety for the sake of our own safety,” he explained.

“In order to continue moving about freely and engaging in economic activity, people have voluntarily worn marks and actively participated in social distancing,” he noted.

He also stressed how South Korea had achieved further advancements with democracy even amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“Even with stringent disease prevention procedures in place, over 29 million voters cast ballots in a nationwide general election. We achieved a ‘festival of democracy’ where not a single person was infected despite an even higher voting rate than in ordinary years,” he said.

“The power of the three principles of openness, transparency, and democracy was demonstrated thanks to members of the public who became agents of disease prevention as they practiced the spirit of liberty for everyone with a strong sense of civic consciousness,” he added.

“The power to share information and cooperation is a power that the virus does not hold -- it is one that belongs to humankind alone,” he stressed.

“The coronavirus may pose a threat to the spirit of freedom that represents a shared human value, but solidarity and cooperation grounded in the spirit of liberty are the most powerful weapons to allow us to win the war against the coronavirus,” he continued, underscoring the importance of transparency and sharing.”

Moon also proposed cooperation across national borders on vaccine and treatment development to triumph over the virus.

“Any vaccines and treatments that are developed should be distributed equitably throughout the world as a public good for the sake of humankind,” he said. As other solutions, he proposed the expansion of humanitarian aid for public health, the sharing of disease prevention experiences, sharing of the international community’s information on new infectious diseases, and the establishment of early warning systems.

Moon’s speech that day took place at the suggestion of World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In a “special proposal” in a telephone conversation with Moon on Apr. 6, Tedros asked him to give a keynote speech as a representative of Asia at the World Health Assembly taking place by teleconference in May. The World Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body for the WHO.

By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter

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