Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki has discussed ways to boost South Korea-U.S. cooperation with his U.S. counterpart, Janet Yellen, in their first telephone conversation under the incumbent administration.

Hong said in a Facebook post that he and Yellen shared the view that expansionary fiscal and monetary policies should be maintained for now in order to achieve swift economic recovery and protect the socially vulnerable in particular. 

He added they agreed to strengthen policy cooperation to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. They also concurred that general allocation of the International Monetary Fund(IMF)'s Special Drawing Rights is needed to support low-income countries' economic recoveries. 

The two officials also agreed to engage in strategic cooperation on South Korea’s Digital and Green New Deal initiatives, as well as on climate change. 

In particular, Hong said he hopes Seoul and Washington will lead the global response to climate change through a Leaders' Climate Summit hosted by the White House in April and the P4G Seoul Summit slated for May.