At the Request of U.S. President Trump
Two South Korean companies have shipped their coronavirus testing kits worth US$8.2 million to the United States, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on April 15
The ministry said a U.S. cargo flight departed for the U.S. at 3 a.m. on April 15 carrying the testing kits, with which up to 600,000 tests can be conducted.
The shipment came three weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump requested South Korea's assistance with COVID-19 testing devices during his phone conversation with President Moon Jae-in on March 24.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave preliminary approval on the Korean test kits late last month.
The testing kits will be sent to Kentucky on a U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency cargo flight. The shipment will be handed over to and paid for by the U.S. federal government.
On April 10, another Korean company already exported testing kits for 150,000 tests to the United States for US$3.2 million.
The three companies and other Korean firms are expected to export additional testing kits to the United States going forward.
A high-ranking U.S. administration official expressed thanks to the Korean Foreign Ministry for helping the U.S. government secure the testing kits.
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris tweeted a similar message, along with a picture of a box of the test kits being loaded for delivery at Incheon International Airport.
"#COVID19 test kits were just loaded at Incheon airport & are bound for the U.S. The #USROKAlliance is ironclad and we're grateful to @mofa_kr for helping make this purchase by @fema possible. #WeAreInThisTogether."
So far, Korean companies have exported COVID-19 testing kits enough to conduct 7.7 million tests to countries around the world.