South Korea, Japan And China Join The Covid-19 Pandemic

Ilustrasi foto (Cheng Feng/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Foreign ministers from South Korea (South Korea), China and Japan held a conference to discuss cooperation on their steps to face the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference comes amid growing concerns about the number of infected people arriving in their country from abroad.

Through video conferences, the ministers share information about the outbreak in their country and explore ways to prevent further spread of the virus while maintaining economic and person-to-person exchanges. "This issue has a direct impact on the lives of the citizens of three countries," said South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, reported by Reuters on Friday, March 20.

"I think the three countries need to work together to contain the spread of the coronavirus and minimize any resulting reduction in economic exchanges and cooperation between peoples, and their economic and social impacts," he added.

Stronger border controls and a sharp reduction in flights are decisions in the cooperation between the three countries. Not only on the economic side, tensions from the three countries overshadow their diplomatic relations which have been rising and falling.

Earlier this month, South Korea suspended visas and visa waivers for Japan. This was done after Japan did the same to South Korea. These policies are actually to suppress the spread of the corona virus, but trigger new causes of hostility.

Meanwhile, China, the country where COVID-19 first emerged, and South Korea, the country outside China that has had the worst impact of COVID-19, have seen a downward trend in locally transmitted COVID-19 cases.

Previously, the South Korean government said that it would carry out COVID-19 checks on all tourists from Europe and impose a mandatory two-week quarantine. The policy starts on Sunday, March 22, for those intending to stay long term.

"This is the toughest step we can take without barring entry (of people) from Europe, where the virus is spreading at an unexpected pace," said Yoon Tae-ho, director general for the South Korean Ministry of Health's public health policy.

South Korea has also established special entry procedures for visitors from countries hardest hit by COVID-19, such as China, Italy and Iran, which require them to use an app on their smartphones to track whether they have COVID-19-like symptoms. fever, cough, or shortness of breath.

Despite strong diplomatic and economic ties between South Korea, China and Japan, many grievances have hampered their ties. Reduced flights, tighter border controls and quarantine requirements in response to the pandemic have proven vexing for many.

The number of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea has tended to decline over the past week, although there has been a slight increase in it as small-scale outbreaks continue to emerge across the country. South Korea's death toll remains unchanged at 94.

South Korea's electoral commission said it would disinfect all polling stations and carry out voter checks during voting in parliamentary elections held on April 15.