Public officials stressed yet again on Thursday that South Korea stands united with its overseas partners against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In a Thursday press briefing, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 31 countries have asked Korea for tips on tackling the COVID-19 outbreak.

Korean public health authorities have established regular contact with their counterparts in 10 countries via weekly calls and teleconferences, said the disease control agency’s Deputy Director Kwon Jun-wook.

Senior Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-ho said Wednesday that a government task force for sharing COVID-19 information has been launched.

“As one of the first countries to be affected by the crisis, Korea can offer tips on how it is coping with the outbreak that may be of help to the international community,” he said.

Yoon said officials from the health and foreign affairs ministries as well as seven doctors treating COVID-19 patients held a teleconference Wednesday with Kuwaiti authorities. An online COVID-19 seminar held the same day was attended by some 800 health officials from 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Another webinar with Chilean and Uruguayan health officials was convened on Tuesday by the two ministries, where five Korean medical specialists spoke about the country’s COVID-19 control and diagnosis systems.

Korean researchers are steering international research efforts toward coronavirus vaccines and cures.

Earlier this month, the National Institute of Health said it was conducting clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine candidates with the International Vaccine Institute. The National Medical Center, the Seoul Medical Center and Seoul National University Hospital are among the institutions testing antiviral drugs such as remdesivir as possible cures.

At a virtual meeting of G-20 health ministers on Sunday, Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said the pandemic highlights the need for international conversations in health challenges more than ever.

“Battling the virus separately in an interconnected world can prove challenging,” he said, adding that an imperative task was “how to allow exchanges and movements across borders while stemming the disease’s spread.”

In a phone conference with 11 countries on Friday, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Korea’s COVID-19 response could be summarized with “3Ts”: test, trace and treat.

Kang said the resumption of economic activities would have to have a basis in risk assessment with local context.

“We must endeavor to deliver a strong and coordinated global health response including developing a vaccine and relevant treatments and to identify best practices to emerge from the crisis,” reads the joint declaration issued following the conference.

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)