한국 코로나 진단키트 전 세계 러브콜…117개국 수출

Demand continues to grow for South Korea's COVID-19 test kits.
They're being shipped now to 117 countries.
The governor of the U.S. state of Maryland requested them personally.
Our Jang Tae-hyun tells us more.
Countries are ramping up their testing, so they're trying to get more test kits from Korea.
The planes used to send the kits to those countries will also be used to bring back Korean nationals who are stuck there.
In the U.S., Maryland has acquired half a million of the kits.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and the state's first lady personally welcomed the Korean plane that arrived with the kits on Saturday.
Hogan and his wife, who was born in Korea, had asked for the kits in March in a personal request to the South Korean ambassador.
And he acknowledged the role of top Korean officials in providing them.

"I want to personally thank President Moon Jae-in, Prime Minister Chung, Ambassador Lee and Prime Minister Hong."

South Korea's Ministry of SMEs and Startups says the country's exports of virus test kits of all kinds in January and Febuary... worth 21 million U.S. dollars, which is around 36 percent more than a year earlier.

"First, we asked the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for emergency approval for COVID-19 test kits. It helped Korean startups get approval. Then, we helped them make connections overseas to export them. Korean test kits are getting more attention from all around the world, so we are exporting them under the name Brand K."

The Ministry of SMEs said that South Korea is shipping the kits to 117 countries, including Italy, Morocco and Saudi Arabia,... and this unexpected demand has led to a shortage of labor for these manufacturers.
Jang Tae-hyun, Arirang News.