The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW, Minister Cho KyooHong) held a bilateral meeting on March 20 at the Lotte Hotel Seoul in Jung-gu with Alexandru Rafila, Minister of Health of Romania, who visited Korea to attend Medical Korea 2025.
During the meeting, Minister Cho and Minister Rafila discussed key areas of mutual interest in the healthcare sector, including strengthening cooperation in ICT-based healthcare systems, expanding medical training, and enhancing partnerships in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries.
Minister Rafila expressed Romania’s interest in collaborating with Korea on several fronts, including sharing best practices in hospital digitalization, attracting investment in pharmaceuticals and medical devices, improving access to medical services through telemedicine, and establishing healthcare personnel exchange and training programs, as well as promoting academic cooperation. He also mentioned plans to visit Yongin Severance Hospital and Samsung Medison during his stay.
Minister Cho shared examples of cooperation between Korea and Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the provision of vaccines and medical devices. He also highlighted Korea’s successful experience with smart hospitals leveraging advanced ICT and AI technologies, expressing his hope that future cooperation in medical training and the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device sectors would further advance the quality of healthcare in both countries.
In response, Minister Rafila expressed his appreciation for the invitation to attend Medical Korea 2025, stating that strengthened cooperation with Korea would significantly support Romania’s efforts in healthcare digitalization and the adoption of advanced medical technologies.
Following the bilateral meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between George Emil Palade University of Romania and Korea University Guro Hospital to promote comprehensive cooperation, including healthcare professional education. The signing ceremony was attended by Jung YoonSoon, Deputy Minister for Healthcare Policy at the MOHW; Minister Rafila; and Leonard Azamfirei, President of George Emil Palade University. The MOU is expected to further accelerate Korea-Romania cooperation in the medical field. Korea.net