S. Korea vows to support global food supply chains amid pandemic

SEOUL, April 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korean has expressed its intention to support global efforts to maintain global food supply chains amid the new coronavirus pandemic, the agriculture ministry said Wednesday.

Agricultural Minister Kim Hyeon-soo participated in a videoconference of the G-20 agricultural ministers a day earlier to discuss the global response against the COVID-19 pandemic in the food segment, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

During the meeting, South Korea called for the global community to refrain from imposing an export ban on agricultural products that could potentially hurt the lives of those vulnerable in developing nations.

In the videoconference, Kim said South Korea has been effectively coping with the COVID-19 pandemic on the back of the country's transparent health care system and has also made efforts to support the local farming industry.

During the virtual meeting, the G-20 countries agreed to maintain the global supply chain of foodstuffs.

"We reaffirm the importance of working to ensure the continued flow of food, products and inputs essential for agricultural and food production across borders," the countries said in a joint statement.

"We will guard against any unjustified restrictive measures that could lead to excessive food price volatility in international markets and threaten the food security and nutrition of large proportions of the world population," they added.

South Korea added 11 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, raising the total to 10,694. The number of daily new cases stayed below 15 for the fourth day in a row.

colin@yna.co.kr
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