Yoon, Bill Gates Discuss Vaccine Development, Further Cooperation

President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates at the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul on Tuesday.

During a meeting, they discussed cooperation on global public health issues and vaccine development.

After saying how glad they both were to see each other in person following phone talks in June, Yoon said he "hopes the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Korea's SK Bioscience can be readily used to protect people in developing countries."

Gates said, "I've been very pleased to see the priority you put on biological innovation. The opportunity to both create good jobs and to improve health not just in the rich countries but also the developing countries is very, very exciting."

Gates praised SK for being an excellent partner in making the country's very first COVID-19 vaccine, and added he expected further cooperation with the country.

SK has cooperated with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop COVID-19 vaccines since 2013.

Earlier Tuesday, Gates made his first visit to Korea's National Assembly in nine years. There, he urged Seoul to take an active role in enhancing global health security after holding talks with National Assembly speaker Kim Jin-pyo for around 40 minutes.