36. 강경화 장관 CNN 인터뷰 하이라이트, 최근 시국에 대한 생각

2020년 12월 17일 CNN에서 진행된 강경화 외교부 장관의 인터뷰 하이라이트입니다. 최근 한국의 시국, 여성 외교부 장관으로서의 책임에 대해 얘기합니다.

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Interviewer:

Foreign Minister Kyung-wha Kang, welcome to the program.

 

Kang:

Thank you for having me back on your program, Christiane.

 

Interviewer:

You know, when we last spoke, it was a very, very different world. And now, today, December 2020, you and South Korea are facing a third wave, maybe even a fourth wave of this coronavirus. Just tell me why this latest one is so difficult to control.

 

Kang:

Yes, we are in the midst of our third wave, which is turning out to be higher than the first and lasting much longer, and it is thus because the virus has now penetrated into every corner of everyday life of people, and this happening mostly in the metropolitan Seoul area. And you know how packed with people this particular area is in a country that is already one of the most population density-wise, high density country. So today, in fact, we hit the highest number so far at 1,073 new confirmed cases including, of course, those who have recently come in from overseas. But you know, our system is ramping up on all 3Ts, the testing, the tracing, and the treatment. And so it’s time for us to be ramping up on the basic setup which is our very robust 3Ts.

 

Interviewer:

Let me ask you though, just to back up a little bit, because treatment involves obviously hospitalizations, and we understand that literally at this moment, you may have only one ICU bed available. One bed available. As you say, you’re very densely populated capital. That’s a real problem.

 

Kang:

Yes, I think that getting, securing more hospital beds is the challenge of the day, yesterday, today, and the days going forward. We’re also a system where just 10% of our beds are publicly administered. The 90%, the rest, are in private hospitals. So our health authorities are also talking to the private hospitals to secure some beds in the private settings, so… So I think there are series of flexibility going forward, but of course we want to make sure that our public facilities are fully utilized before we travel down that road.

 

Interviewer:

Can I ask you to react to what the prime minister said just yesterday? You know, basically, lamenting the fact he said that South Koreas have let their guard down after such truly impressive discipline and control in the first wave. He said yesterday, while most follow the rules, some are fueling the ferocious spread of the virus with their carelessness and irresponsibility. I’m just wondering whether this will lead, I don’t know whether you could tell me about what your government is discussing, you know, for the first time, a lockdown, a soft lockdown, a hard lockdown, but some kind of lockdown.

 

Kang:

This is very difficult discussion. Some say yes, we should, some say no, we shouldn’t hurry into it, because the socioeconomic consequences are going to be so huge. So you have to work through how this will play out, if in fact, it will be effective in terms of capturing the further spread of the virus. So it’s a very, very tough discussion, and a tough call if it should be made. But if we make that call, we want to be as prepared as possible in terms of the measures that need to be in place to help out with the small restaurant owners, small businesses, and so on and so forth. So yes, we are in discussion, but the decision has not been made yet. And I have to say, I think there was a little bit of complacency setting in after the successes and of course, our experience in the way we handled this being touted as a success by the foreign media. I think perhaps that has led to a certain amount of complacency.

 

Interviewer:

You know, it has also still to be pointed out, that comparatively, South Korea has a pretty,

what your own government has called, “manageable load.”

 

Kang:

Yes. We’re 612, the death count, and slightly over 45,000 case counts as of today. Compared to other OECD countries, I think we’re the second lowest next to New Zealand in terms of the confirmed cases and the death numbers. Of course, we’re also a country with a much larger population and much higher population density than New Zealand. But compared to others, we are very low. But it’s all comparative. We’re used to low numbers. And once those low number starts ticking up again, of course it makes us all on high alert.

 

Interviewer:

Let me ask you about vaccines in general and vaccine hesitancy. You’ve already, according to your public health officials, had a pretty bad rap when it comes to taking the flu vaccine. You’ve tried - let me get the figures right - you’ve tried to vaccinate 13 million people against the flu, which was 10 million more than last year. But you know, there were huge rumors that spread online which created a lack of confidence. Um, a few people died. But then immediately, your health officials said that it was not related to the vaccine at all. But there’s a lot of social media conspiracy theories which is creating a pretty unusual vaccine hesitancy in your country.

 

Kang:

I think the story with the influenza vaccines, I think that’s pretty much put to rest. I think the flu vaccine story is now not a concern. I think we have surveyed the people’s willingness to take the COVAX (19) vaccines if the vaccine was proved safe and effective. And I think the survey came out to be something like 70%. So I wouldn’t worry too much about vaccine hesitancy in Korea.

 

Interviewer:

Alright, well, that’s good. Let me finally end this by asking you about yourself. Kyung-wha Kang, you are the first South Korean female foreign minister. You said last month you felt prejudiced toward women while working in “male-centered culture of vested interests.” Tell me about that, and what needs to be done further in your country?

 

Kang:

Well, I think lots have changed. Just the fact of me in this position, and in this position for so long, is.. certainly me trying hard but also the support I get from staff at senior levels and junior levels. It is also the junior staff who are majority female coming into the Ministry who are rooting me. So I think I owe them this responsibility of doing my very best in this position. I think all women in leadership positions feel that to a certain extent. It is also political will needed on the part of our male colleagues. I’m here because my president decided that he wanted to put a woman in a position of very important leadership as part of his cabinet members. I think we also have to make sure that women with careers can pursue that career and family life together, together with their male spouses. Still, the housework, child caring, this is predominantly on the side of women. So we have to introduce more support for young families, parents struggling careers and childcare altogether, clearly seeing the self-interest, self-benefit in the long run, sharing that equitably with women.

 

Interviewer:

Indeed, Foreign Minister Kyung-wha Kang, thank you so much for joining us.

 

Kang:

Thank you Christiane.

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