South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday once again floated the idea of North Korea’s participation in a regional cooperation initiative on health security issues.

In a speech commemorating the 76th anniversary of Korean independence from Japanese colonial rule, Moon described projects discussed in the Northeast Asia Cooperation Initiative for Infectious Disease Control and Public Health. These include information sharing, shared stockpiling of medical supplies and joint training of COVID-19 response personnel, according to Moon.

“It is clear that the COVID-19 threat is not temporary, which makes [the initiative] even more important,” he said. Calling North Korea a member of