One of South Korea’s most powerful business organizations yesterday donated a batch of 5,000 COVID-19 rapid test kits to Taiwan to help the country combat a serious COVID-19 outbreak.
The Federation of Korean Industries, which represents several hundred companies in Seoul, made the donation via the Korean Mission in Taipei to the Taipei-based Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association during a ceremony in Taipei.
Speaking at the event, the head of the Korean Mission in Taipei, which represents South Korean interests in Taiwan in the absence of the official diplomatic ties, said that although the donation was small, it was symbolic of the strong and close bilateral ties between the two sides.
Photo: Liao Cheng-hui, Taipei Times
“We want to help our neighbor,” South Korean Representative to Taiwan Chung Byung-won said via an interpreter.
Taiwan and South Korea are each other’s fifth-largest trading partners, Chung added.
Last year, bilateral trade totaled US$50.76 billion, up 41.98 percent over the previous year, association data showed.
The number of bilateral visits also exceeded 2.5 million in 2019, prior to the spread of COVID-19 in early 2020.
Chung said he hoped that the donated test kits would be put to good use, adding that he looked forward to Taiwan and South Korea resuming normal trade and in-person interaction in the latter half of this year.
Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢), chairman of the association’s ROC-Korea Business Council, who received the batch of rapid test kits on behalf of Taiwan, expressed the nation’s gratitude for the donation.
It marks the third time the federation has made a donation to Taiwan during a time of need, Chuang said.
The federation donated US$200,000 for the 921 Earthquake in 1999 and US$300,000 for Typhoon Morakot in 2009, he said.
“A friend in need is a friend indeed,” Chuang said, while thanking South Korea for the timely donation as Taiwan is in the midst of a serious domestic COVID-19 outbreak.
The donated test kits are to be given to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is to decide how they would be allocated, the association said.
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