VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Deputy South Korean Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Kim Gunn visited Indonesia on Monday to discuss several issues including COVID-19 and bilateral cooperation.

Amid travel restrictions in some or almost all countries, Indonesia and Korea have implemented travel corridor arrangements for important business visits and official visits since 17 August 2020.

"During this courtesy visit, South Korea expressed its appreciation for Indonesia's consistency in prioritizing multilateralism, including in terms of vaccine cooperation," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in an online media briefing, Wednesday.

Retno and Gunn also discussed the ongoing cooperation between the two countries, even amid a pandemic. In the health sector, for example, since the beginning, South Korea has been an important partner of Indonesia in providing medical supplies such as personal protective equipment (PPE), which is needed in handling COVID-19.

"Vaccine companies in Indonesia and South Korea are developing vaccine cooperation, namely between Genexine and Kalbe Farma," Retno said.

In the economic sector, Indonesia and South Korea successfully developed several new cooperation initiatives.

Recently, state-owned enterprises Minister Erick Thohir and Head of BKPM (Investment Coordinating Board) Bahlil Lahadalia visited Seoul and resulted in concrete cooperation, among others, investment in a glass factory from Korea, KC Glass, with a value of Rp 5.1 trillion which can employ 1,300 Indonesian workers.

Then, Sejin Fashion, which is engaged in the garment and footwear industry, has also declared an investment commitment with a value of Rp 1.2 trillion and can absorb over 4,000 local workers.

“LG Chem (from Korea) will develop the electric car battery industry. This is a very large investment and we are still calculating the amount,” Retno said.

During the meeting with Foreign Minister Retno, Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Gunn also conveyed an invitation from Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-Wha to conduct a Joint Ministerial Commission in Seoul later this year, and participate in the UN Peacekeeping

Operations Ministerial Meeting in 2021, because Indonesia is considered having made a very significant contribution to peacekeeping. (Antaranews)