A South Korea-led multilateral cooperation group was launched on Wednesday to promote effective responses by the international community on global infectious diseases.

Seoul's Foreign Ministry said that the Support Group for Global Infectious Disease Response(G4IDR) was launched by videoconference from Geneva, where the headquarters of the World Health Organization(WHO) is located. 

In a congratulatory speech, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said that global infectious diseases like COVID-19 cannot be successfully dealt with by each country alone and hoped this new group will contribute to strengthening global health governance.

South Korea unveiled a plan earlier this month to establish the so-called Friends Groups in the United Nations, the WHO and the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as part of its bid to further spur global discussions on battling the pandemic.

The G4IDR is the second of the multilateral groups on joint coronavirus responses to be launched after the first kicked off last week.