Virus test kit export to US

Korea takes lead in global fight against pandemic

Korea exported 600,000 coronavirus test kits to the United States, Tuesday. The shipment followed a phone call between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump, March 24, during which Trump requested Korea's assistance with medical supplies. Afterward, two Korean firms signed contracts with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency to export their test kits upon winning interim approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

There had been cases of Korean makers supplying small numbers of test kits to some areas of the U.S. However, it was the first large-scale orders placed by a U.S. federal agency. America is the world's largest pharmaceutical market, and gaining FDA approval is quite difficult. The U.S. regulator's preliminary go-ahead to the Korean-made test kits is significant in itself.

The export of the diagnostic kits is also likely to exert some influence on how Koreans and Americans perceive the relationship between their two countries. Although Korea's national power has grown, many Koreans still regard the bilateral relationship as a vertical one, in which the U.S. unilaterally helps and protects Korea. Now that Korea has come to the aid of the U.S., it remains to be seen how many will rethink the relationship as a horizontal one.

As the Korean model for fighting COVID-19 receives favorable comments from the international community, an increasing number of countries are asking for help. So far, Korea has exported about 7.7 million diagnostic kits. Unlike the case of coping with external military threats based on “confrontation and conflicts,” international healthcare cooperation should start from a structure of “collaboration and coexistence.”

The leaders of ASEAN and three Northeast Asian countries ― South Korea, China and Japan ― held a special video summit Tuesday and discussed how they would cooperate to contain COVID-19. In a statement, President Moon said, “Korea will secure an additional budget for humanitarian aid, and will offer maximum cooperation to requests for help from ASEAN and other countries as much as the nation can afford.” This is time for East Asian nations to establish a joint response system for infectious diseases based on the awareness that if one country is unhealthy, there will be repercussions on the health of the others.