The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is widening its cooperation on infectious disease response with major public health bodies and international organizations, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. The agency plans to expand the scope of that cooperation around artificial intelligence and public health data, vaccine research and development, and regional health security.
KDCA (Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency) Commissioner Lim Seung-kwan visited New York from the 23rd to the 26th to attend the High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response at the 81st U.N. General Assembly as the head of the Korean government delegation, the agency said on the 28th. At the main session, he stressed that countries must strengthen disease surveillance, early detection and rapid response capacity in normal times, and build systems for swift information sharing and coordination across borders.
The General Assembly also served as an occasion for bilateral talks with public health agencies of major countries and with international organizations. With the U.S. CDC, the two sides discussed maintaining existing cooperation on infectious disease crisis response, health security in the Asia-Pacific region and personnel exchanges, while broadening the scope to global health cooperation in Africa, public health data integration and the use of AI.
With CEPI, the agency discussed vaccine research and development for pandemic preparedness and ways to link Korea's Pandemic Preparedness Engine, or PPX, with global efforts. PPX is an integrated platform that uses AI to connect data across the entire process — from detecting signs of a new infectious disease and identifying the pathogen to developing vaccine and treatment candidates and carrying them through preclinical and clinical trials to regulatory approval. The two sides also reviewed the potential for cooperation on AI-driven vaccine research and development and data linkage to respond quickly to future infectious disease threats.
With Singapore's Communicable Diseases Agency, the two sides agreed to expand cooperation on disease surveillance and response, public health threats from climate change, and tuberculosis prevention and control, building on a memorandum of understanding signed in 2024. With the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific, the agency discussed emerging public health challenges such as AI and climate change, along with how Korea can contribute to international preparedness and response systems including the WHO BioHub.
The agency is also pursuing cooperation aimed at speeding up the initial response to outbreaks. Lim shared the "7-1-7" approach with Resolve to Save Lives, a global public health nonprofit, under which an outbreak is detected within seven days, reported to health authorities within one day and met with an initial response within seven days. The two sides also discussed ways to raise response capacity across the Asia-Pacific region based on Korea's experience in disease surveillance and data use.
"This was an occasion to reaffirm the tasks the international community must prepare for together to be ready for future pandemics, and to discuss concrete cooperation measures with key partners," Lim said. "Through cooperation with public health agencies of major countries and international organizations, we will work to ensure that Korea's experience and expertise contribute to strengthening health security in the region and around the world."
