1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha spoke over the phone with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece Nikos Dendias on the afternoon of May 8 at the latter’s request, and exchanged views on ways to cooperate in responding to COVID-19.
2. Minister Dendias said that he was very impressed by how the Republic of Korea successfully carried out the parliamentary election even amid the COVID-19 situation.
o Minister Kang said that she is pleased that the parliamentary election was held successfully with high voter turnout thanks to the people’s mature civic consciousness and the government’s thorough disease control measures, and that the movement of people during the election has not led to an increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases.
3. The two Ministers welcomed the close cooperation between the two countries, including through the export of Korean-made COVID-19 test kits to Greece.
o Minister Dendias asked the ROK to cooperate if Greece needs to import more disease prevention products, including test kits, in the future. Minister Kang said that the ROK will actively look into it, considering the domestic demand and other related factors.
4. Minister Kang said that with this year marking the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, the ROK people are reminding themselves of their gratitude for Greek soldiers who fought in the Korean War, and expressed hope that the face masks the ROK government is planning to provide to the Greek soldiers and the bereaved families would become a small token of appreciation.
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Minister Dendias extended appreciation to the ROK for supporting face masks for
Greek soldiers who fought in the Korean War. The two Ministers agreed to continue
working together to take the ROK-Greece relations to a higher level, as the two
countries mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of
diplomatic relations next year.