(LEAD) Yoon pledges additional $300 mln for global anti-COVID-19 fight

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with Yoon's remarks at summit; CHANGES headline)
By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, May 12 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol said Thursday South Korea will provide an additional US$300 million for a global anti-COVID-19 partnership as he attended a multilateral summit of world leaders for the first time since taking office earlier this week.

Yoon made the pledge in a prerecorded video message for the second Global COVID-19 Summit that was held virtually and co-hosted by the United States, Belize, Germany, Indonesia and Senegal.

"South Korea has joined the international community's efforts to quickly bring an end to COVID-19 and build a sustainable global health response mechanism," Yoon said. "We will continue to further support the international community's efforts to end COVID-19 and fulfill our responsibility and role."

Between 2020 and 2022, South Korea provided a total $210 million in cash or goods to the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A), an initiative launched by the World Health Organization and various partners to focus on vaccines, treatments and tests for COVID-19.

"We will contribute an additional $300 million in financial resources to the ACT-A," he said. "We will support the sufficient supply and safe and quick administration of vaccines to those countries that urgently need them."

Yoon also said South Korea supports the establishment of a financial intermediary fund so that the international community can swiftly mobilize enough financial resources to effectively prepare against new infectious diseases and health crises.

"A health crisis that threatens all of humanity, such as COVID-19, cannot be solved by one country or through the participation of several nations," he said. "If more countries unite and cooperate, I believe we will successfully overcome many crises."

hague@yna.co.kr
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