South Korean nationals board a military plane at Baghdad International Airport to return home from coronavirus-hit Iraq on July 23, 2020 (Iraq time), in this photo provided the next day by the South Korean Embassy in Iraq.
SEOUL, June 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Taking a lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea has decided to strengthen its protection and transport service for overseas citizens in case they are exposed to dangers like infectious diseases and other threats to their safety.
The government held a national pending review and coordination meeting on Thursday and completed the deliberations and resolution on how to improve the current system.
Under the improvement plan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will expand the provision of information on overseas transport support companies and hospital and health care systems.
The ministry will play the role of orchestrating the entire process of transporting and protecting overseas patients, while providing a 24-hour emergency medical phone interpretation service in collaboration with the National Fire Agency.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare will strengthen the management of private transport support companies, which have been identified as being left in a blind spot.
The Financial Supervisory Service plans to improve the terms and conditions for travel insurance policies towards providing practical benefits to overseas citizens when they face dangerous situations.
Thus far, the government has not systematically managed the protection and transport service for overseas citizens on the grounds of equal treatment with domestic citizens and the principle of self-responsibility.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
