Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha held a conference call with her counterparts from Canada and four other countries to discuss cooperation in fighting the new coronavirus, the foreign ministry said Monday.
Kang and her Canadian, German, Brazilian, Italian and Australian counterparts -- Francois-Philippe Champagne, Heiko Maas, Ernesto Henrique Fraga Araujo, Luigi Di Maio and Maris Payne -- joined the 70-minute call Sunday night (Korea time).
The talks were proposed by Canada, the ministry said.
"During the talks, the foreign ministers shared the need for multilateral, regional and bilateral efforts while closely communicating with one another, as international cooperation is imperative due to the spread of COVID-19 across the world," the ministry said in a press release.
During the phone talks, Kang renewed calls for the countries to refrain from excessive entry restrictions for travelers, which could lead to the closure of national borders and further spread fears about the pandemic.
Kang also stressed that though the new cases in Korea tracked downward, Seoul has been making active efforts to prevent community transmission and any possible inflows or outflows of the contagious disease.
She also underscored Korea's advanced diagnostic capabilities, its efforts to transparently share quarantine information with the public and mobile virus testing labs and other preemptive containment efforts.
On Sunday, South Korea reported 76 new cases of the coronavirus to total 8,162, marking the first time in 23 days the number of new cases has fallen below 100. The total death toll was tallied at 75. (Yonhap)