Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.

I greatly appreciate the chair country for hosting the first G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting in May and for working hard to include public health issues on the agenda of the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

International cooperation is necessary to cope with such global health crises as newly emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance. At the same time, the World Health Organization should be entrusted with bigger roles. Korea will actively contribute to the WHO’s Central Emergency Response Fund.

It is also necessary to increase humanitarian assistance to countries with less developed medical services. Korea is planning on providing US$100 million in total to 13 developing countries by 2020.

 
Humanitarian support for healthcare should not be linked to political circumstances. Korea is paying attention to North Korean children suffering from malnutrition. According to a United Nations report released in 2017, approximately 41 percent of the North Korean population, especially 28 percent of children below 5 years of age, are suffering from malnutrition. Korea intends to work together with international organizations and non-governmental entities to provide aid under systematic and strict monitoring within the framework of sanctions imposed on the North by the international community. I look forward to much interest from the G20 member states.

Because of the Korean War and the division of the country, Korea underwent a massive refugee crisis. As of now, many North Korean defectors are still coming to live in the South. Based on its own experiences and solidarity, Korea will actively join the efforts of the international community to address the global refugee issue.

Africa is most affected by climate change, which is increasingly impoverishing the region. Korea fully endorses the Africa Partnership Initiative, which was proposed by the chair country for the balanced development of the world as well as the African Union`s Agenda 2063.

Climate change, however, is not an issue confined only to Africa. It is an issue that requires joint responses of the international community. Climate change responses are an investment in future generations and also an opportunity to create new jobs and growth engines.

Korea will faithfully implement the Paris Agreement on climate change. It will achieve, without a glitch, the 2030 greenhouse gas reduction goal submitted to the United Nations. Korea has already started to change the paradigm of its energy policy by substituting eco-friendly and low carbon energy. It will prepare the foundation for sustainable growth in active response to a new climate regime.

Now I would like to talk about the special efforts to promote women’s economic empowerment. By creating the basis on which women can achieve a work-family balance, the Korean Government will eliminate factors that interrupt women’s careers and will, moreover, reduce the wage gap between men and women.

More female leaders should be nurtured. I am making efforts to fill 30 percent of my Cabinet with women, and I intend to expand women’s representation in various sectors during my tenure in office.

Korea took part in the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, called We-Fi, established at this G20 Summit to support female entrepreneurs in developing countries. I hope that the initiative will contribute to promoting women’s economic participation, economic growth in developing nations and job creation.

Thank you very much.