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South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks during a Blue House roundtable meeting on the economic impact of COVID-19 on Apr. 18. (Blue House photo pool)

The South Korean government plans to establish and launch a pan-governmental support team this week to promote “early success in developing domestic treatments and a vaccine” for the novel coronavirus, Blue House deputy Spokesperson Yoon Jae-kwan said on Apr. 12.

Yoon explained that the pan-governmental support team would “include the participation of private experts and consist of minister- and vice minister-level officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) as well as other relevant ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF), the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).”

“The support team will oversee treatment and vaccine development and establish a swift decision-making system to quickly identify and resolve any difficulties on the ground, including regulatory issues,” he said.

Speaking at a joint meeting of industry, academia, research, and hospital representatives on coronavirus treatment and vaccine development on Apr. 9 at the Institut Pasteur Korea in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, President Moon Jae-in pledged to provide 100% government compensation for expenses toward development.

“We need to see this coronavirus treatment and vaccine development through,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Blue House announced that an ASEAN+3 (South Korea, China, and Japan) teleconference would be held at 2 pm on Apr. 14 to discuss coordination in responding to COVID-19. A Blue House official explained that Moon would be “emphasizing the importance of regional cooperation on a coronavirus response and proposing ways of increasing public health cooperation to establish a safe environment.”

“He will be underscoring how ensuring the ability of businesspeople and others to travel will minimize negative economic impact,” the official said.

By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter

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