South Korea, China and Japan are sharing information on the coronavirus pandemic and exploring how to prevent the disease from spreading further while maintaining economic and social exchanges.
Foreign ministers of the three countries met via a video conference Friday to discuss cooperation in face of growing concern about the number of infected people entering their countries from overseas.
“This issue has a direct impact on the lives of the three nations’ citizens,” South Korean Foreign Affairs Minister Kang Kyung-wha said as she opened the conference.
Kang said the three countries must cooperate on containing the spread of COVID-19 and minimizing the impact on people-to-people exchanges and the economy because of stronger border controls and drastic cuts in flights among the three Asian neighbors.
In meantime, South Korea is imposing a 14-day mandatory quarantine for European arrivals.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 87 new coronavirus cases Friday for a total 8,652 nationwide.