Unification Minister Lee In-young “If the vaccine is distributed, we will share it with North Korea”
Some criticisms of “wrong priority” and “we don’t even have our vaccine”
Unification Minister Lee In-young attends the general meeting of the Foreign and Transportation Affairs Committee held at the National Assembly on the 26th of last month and answers inquiries from lawmakers. / Reporter Yoon Dong-ju doso7@
[아시아경제 김영은 기자] Recently, as the South Korean government, including Unification Minister Lee In-young, announced their intention to support North Korea for a new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) vaccine, opinions of the public are diverging over this.
Minister Lee met with young people in their 20s and 30s at an online talk concert by the Ministry of Unification on the 22nd and emphasized that he would like to share with North Korea when more vaccines and treatments are developed and distributed.
Minister Lee said, “If someday more COVID-19 treatments and vaccines are developed and distributed, (with North Korea) we hope to share and cooperate with each other to end the COVID-19 situation on the Korean peninsula. The whole world has an unprecedented crisis amid the spread of the coronavirus. “We are experiencing anxiety,” he said. “For the health and survival of the 80 million Koreans, it is important for the two Koreas to face each other.”
Meanwhile, on the 23rd, the day after Minister Lee’s talk concert, a North Korean foreign propaganda media mentioned Korea’s’Corona 19 quarantine crisis’.
The media said, “As the third pandemic of the new coronavirus (virus) infectious disease spreads rapidly in South Korea, anxiety, fears, and fears that it may fall out of control are expanding.” There are criticisms about whether it has become loose,” he explained.
Previously, Lee has repeatedly expressed his willingness to provide vaccines against North Korea.
In an interview with KBS on the 18th of last month, Minister Lee also said, “If we can cooperate with each other on treatment and vaccine, I think it will create an opportunity for the North to escape from the economic sacrifices caused by the corona quarantine system. He said, “It’s more real to share when we don’t have enough, even if it’s a little less than sharing because there are many.”
On the 10th, a researcher at the Central Research Institute of NGChem Life Sciences in Jecheon, Chungcheongbuk-do is immersed in research on a new type of coronavirus infection (Corona 19) treatment. / Reporter Kang Jin-hyung
Since then, Minister Lee’s intention to support a vaccine against North Korea has spread to a so-called’fugency’ controversy in public opinion such as politics.
On the 20th of last month, Kim Geun-sik, chairman of the party committee chairman Song Pa-byeong of Seoul, wrote on his Facebook page, “It is not enough because we have not yet secured a vaccine, but the idea of sharing with the North is not a member of the State Council, but a representative of a civic group that precedes, or a priest of sacrifice and love It is close to,” he criticized, saying, “If you want to give love to the North even though it is too much, please quit the minister and do it.” In addition, the same party chairman Jang Jin-young Lee Dong-gap also pointed out on Facebook, “Because you are the Minister of Unification, let’s think about North Korea. Who is thinking of the Korean people?”
On the 19th of last month, the day after the interview with Minister Lee was released, the North Korean agency said, “Would you like to cross the border and kill your children for supplies that you can live without,” saying that it will not receive external cooperation related to the COVID-19 quarantine.
In response, public opinion such as netizens are showing critical reactions such as’I haven’t made rice cakes, but I’m thinking of turning them around’ and’I don’t have any vaccines to distribute yet.
A 29-year-old office worker said, “I know what you want to share, but we haven’t secured the amount of vaccines in Korea right now, so we have to prioritize it,” he said. “No matter how much the Ministry of Unification, it is a serious situation where all the lives of the Korean people have stopped right now, I can’t understand that I will support them.”
On the 8th, an official from the Ministry of Unification on the issue of North Korea’s vaccine support said, “There is some consensus within the government that cooperation is necessary on the extension of health cooperation to ensure the life and safety of both North Korea and our people.”
In addition, although a specific consultation procedure with the health authorities has not been carried out yet, the issue of vaccine support, such as saying, “As the issue of infectious diseases such as Corona 19 is a problem without borders, joint response between the two Koreas is essential” and “We will discuss and review various measures.” It is expected that further discussions and reviews will follow.
Meanwhile, Minister Lee said in an interview with KBS on the 18th of last month regarding the support for Corona 19 to North Korea, “It is urgent to secure what we use for vaccines first, but the treatment and diagnostic kits seem to have room.” Regarding North Korea’s position on such a proposal, he said, “There is no direct response right now,” and that “the possibility will open after the 8th party congress in January next year.”
Reporter Kim Young-eun [email protected]