By Diplomacy Journal Lee Jon-young
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok held a luncheon meeting with Bill Gates, Chairman of the Gates Foundation, and discussed topics such as continuing global health contributions, inviting the chairman to attend the 2026 World Bio Summit, expanding cooperation with Korean companies and strengthening the role of Korea as a hub for global bio talent development on August 21.
Prime Minister Kim welcomed the chairman's visit to Korea, highly evaluating the Gates Foundation's contributions to international health and expressing his gratitude for its cooperation with Korean bio companies.
Chairman Gates evaluated the vaccine and diagnostic device technologies of Korean bio companies as world-class and expressed his desire to continue cooperation with the Gates Foundation in the future.
Prime Minister Kim responded to the Gates Foundation's request to expand Korea’s contribution to global health by saying that Korea would expand contributions to global health organizations in order to contribute to human health.
He also mentioned the World Bio Summit, which the Korean government has been hosting annually since 2022, and requested Chairman Gates' attendance so that the event could become a global forum for discussion in the field of health.
Prime Minister Kim expressed his expectation that combining the excellent capabilities of Korean bio companies with the Gates Foundation's global network would create synergy effects, and proposed discussing various cooperation plans through the establishment of a Gates Foundation office in Korea in the future.
Chairman Gates highly evaluated the excellent vaccine manufacturing capabilities of Korean bio companies and said that he would actively share the Gates Foundation's international cooperation know-how and experience to help them enter the global market.
Prime Minister Kim said that Korea was designated as a WHO Global Bio Workforce Development Hub in 2022 and has been training about 1,000 bio personnel from developing countries annually, and he hopes to expand this project to strengthen the self-sustaining health capabilities of developing countries.
Finally, Prime Minister Kim said that Gates' visit provided insights to the international community and Korea, and that discussions on expanding contributions to global health organizations should be activated going forward.
