President Yoon Suk Yeol has met with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and proposed substantive cooperation on healthcare between South Korea and the American billionaire’s philanthropist foundation. 

In his first in-person meeting as president at his office in Yongsan, Seoul, on Tuesday, Yoon told Gates he desired to see South Korea continue securing high-level bio-health technologies to help enhance global citizens' health, and hoped to work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to this end. 

Nodding to Gates’ efforts to develop and supply vaccines and treatments, Yoon hoped COVID-19 vaccines produced by SK Bioscience, financially supported by the Foundation, to be effectively used in preventing the spread of the infectious disease in developing countries. 

Gates said that he highly regards Yoon’s focus on areas of bio innovation, noting their impact on creating jobs and improving the lives of the general public. He also assessed South Korea’s partnership and its generous support in managing pandemic-related risks positively. 

On a three-day visit to South Korea, Gates addressed the National Assembly earlier in the day, in which he proposed the country further expand its leadership role in the globally coordinated fight against infectious diseases by applying its advanced science and technology.