The top diplomats of South Korea and the United Arab Emirates(UAE) held phone talks on Tuesday to discuss cooperation and responses to the novel coronavirus.

The phone call came after South Korea shipped 51-thousand coronavirus sampling kits in emergency exports to the Middle Eastern country in mid-March.

Seoul's Foreign Ministry said that speaking on the phone with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan expressed gratitude for Seoul's cooperation in relation to the exports. 

The UAE minister reportedly said his country is successfully responding to the COVID-19 outbreak thanks to Korea's support, while noting Seoul's anti-virus approach and balanced policies have become an exemplary model for the international community. 

The two ministers stressed the importance of global cooperation in overcoming the coronavirus crisis and pledged to work together to ride out the pandemic based on their countries' strategic partnership.

Separately, Kang also held a phone conversation with Moldovan Foreign Minister Oleg Tulea to discuss cooperation in the fight against the virus.