Unclassified Memorandum

The World Korean Medical Organization (WKMO) has a lot to celebrate since it was launched in Los Angeles, California in July 2012. I applaud WKMO’s mission to facilitate medical and scientific research and improve standards of healthcare and medical training worldwide by tapping into a vast network of Koreans working or studying in various medical fields across the world.

 

WKMO’s new World Korean Medical Journal will serve as a means to share new information and trends while supporting an expanding network of over 140,000 Korean physicians, healthcare industry leaders, and bio medicine scientists. I would like to congratulate WKMO on the launch of this journal and which the organization success in its mission to advance global cooperation in the field of health.

 

As the world becomes more globalized, no country acting alone will be able to successfully meet the challenges of the 21st century. To spur innovation and successfully tackle global public health issues. It will take more than hard work and long hours in the lab. Our countries need the right policy environments and our scientists and experts need to cooperate and collaborate with global partners and colleagues.

 

Korea and the United States share strong traditions in biomedical, medical sciences, and public health research, and we have a long history of public and private sector health collaboration. Joint efforts to advance vaccine development, pandemic influenza preparedness, liver cancer and cancer genomics, and chronic and infectious disease research have undoubtedly had a positive impact on global public health. In fact, some of our greatest tools of international diplomacy today involve science and technology partnerships, collaboration, and international exchange programs that allow us to learn from each other.

 

The U.S.-Korea partnership – a relationship begun in the 19th century and solidified in the 20th century – is evolving to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Like WKMO, we are working hard at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul to expand people-to-people ties through a variety of programs designed to bring people together to effect positive change in the world.

 

Let me again congratulate WKMO on the publication of your World Korean Medical Journal and I thank you for your contributions in the field of global health.

 

Sung Y. Kim

The Ambassador

U.S. Embassy Seoul, Korea