SEOUL, President Yoon Suk Yeol met with World Bank President Ajay Banga on Wednesday and discussed issues related to mental health, development aid and digital technology, Yoon’s office said.

Banga was in Seoul as part of a series of visits to World Bank member countries following his inauguration last June, and arrived here from Japan.

During their meeting, Yoon revisited the topic of mental health policies, which they discussed during their previous talks on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in India in September, and expressed his wish to continue working together with the World Bank to promote mental health, his office said in a press release.

Yoon also reaffirmed South Korea’s plans to become a “global pivotal state” and expand official development assistance (ODA) to developing nations, saying it was thanks to the international community’s past help that South Korea was able to fight poverty and achieve economic development.

Banga praised South Korea’s ODA policy as being “excellent” and noted
the example it sets as a country that went from being a low-income aid recipient to a high-income donor in a matter of a generation.

Banga also called for strengthening cooperation between the World Bank and South Korea in the digital technology field, saying he looks forward to South Korea establishing global digital standards and acting as a bridge between the respective digital standards of each country.

Source: Yonhap News Agency