Suwon City, Which Received Mask Support from Around the World, Now Gifts Masks in Return

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Suwon City, which received mask support from friends around the world in March and April, has now gifted masks to help its friends in return.

Suwon City announced on the 6th that it recently donated 20,000 KF80 masks each to four international sister and friendship cities: Bandung, Indonesia; Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Toluca, Mexico; and Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.

The masks were delivered to Bandung, Cluj-Napoca, and Toluca in September, and shipment preparations for Nizhny Novgorod have been completed.

In late April, Mayor Yeom Tae-young of Suwon instructed officials to "ascertain the intentions of international sister and friendship cities where COVID-19 has spread to receive masks, and prepare to swiftly provide support once overseas mask exports become possible."

Suwon City prepared mask support without affecting its COVID-19 response efforts and communicated its intention to "provide masks" to seven international sister cities. Four cities expressed their desire to receive masks, making this donation possible.

Bandung Mayor Oded M. Danial, Cluj-Napoca Mayor Emil Boc, and Toluca Mayor Juan Rodolfo Sanchez Gomez sent letters of gratitude to Mayor Yeom Tae-young, expressing their appreciation.

Toluca Mayor Juan Rodolfo Sanchez Gomez requested a video conference with Mayor Yeom Tae-young on the 6th, saying, "We are using the masks sent by Suwon City very meaningfully," and "I am grateful that Suwon City considers Toluca a true brother city." He added, "The masks were used for low-income citizens."

Mayor Yeom Tae-young said, "I hope that the citizens of Toluca will overcome COVID-19 well and remain healthy," and added, "Suwon City and Toluca will become friends who can rely on each other."

Suwon City decided to donate an additional 20,000 masks to medical staff in Toluca. As of October 6, Mexico, where Toluca is located, has 705,263 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with a confirmation rate of 0.59% of the population compared to South Korea's 0.05%.

In March and April, Suwon City received mask support from sister cities Siem Reap Province, Cambodia (20,000 masks) and Jinan, China (30,000 masks), and from friendship city Zhuhai, China (20,000 masks). Additionally, the China Chahar Society donated 100,000 medical masks to Suwon City.

Mayor Yeom Tae-young said, "We donated masks to sister cities in countries where COVID-19 spread is more severe than in our city as part of international quarantine cooperation efforts," and added, "Just as we received mask support during difficult times, the cities that receive masks from our city will likely treasure our friendship."

A Suwon City official stated, "This mask donation, made on humanitarian grounds, will also be an opportunity to strengthen cooperation with major cities," and said, "We will use the mask donation as a breakthrough for non-face-to-face international exchange."

Suwon City has established sister and friendship relations with 18 cities across six continents worldwide and actively exchanges with them. There are 14 international sister cities and 4 international friendship cities.

An international sister city relationship is established with one city per country. When a sister city's country establishes a friendship cooperation relationship with another city in that country, it is called an 'international friendship city.' There are no major differences in the content of exchange and cooperation.