The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention_{질병관리본부} will conduct a joint evaluation with the World Health Organization (WHO) to check Korea’s health security for a week starting Monday.

The WHO Joint External Assessment (JEE) is an evaluation method that suggests recommendations to improve the national action plan of the inspecting country by objectively evaluating the countermeasures against the public health crisis of member states and drawing up remedial measures.

The joint external evaluation team is comprised of 13 experts from nine countries, including the U.K., the U.S. and China. The team will evaluate 19 areas for early recognition and prompt response to the public health crisis.

While 54 countries have completed getting the external evaluation as of August, Korea has received much attention from neighboring countries such as Japan and Australia because it is the first among the developed countries of the WHO Western Pacific region.

Over the past eight months, Korean government bodies including the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs_{농림축산식품부}, the Ministry of Environment_환경부, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety_{식품의약품안전처}, and the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety_{한국원자력안전기술원} have prepared self-evaluation reports in 19 areas.

The WHO evaluation will be carried out at the KCDC headquarters in Osong, North Chungcheong Province. It will also include visits to Incheon Airport Quarantine Station, Gwangmyeong City Health Center, Seoul Metropolitan Government Health and Environment Research Institute, 1339 Call Center, and Central Disaster Safety Headquarters.

The evaluation team said any weaknesses revealed in the assessment will be reflected in the national plan for improvement. The results will also be publicly available worldwide through the homepages of the WHO and the Global Health Security Initiative (GHSA).