Bill Gates to speak at National Assembly next week

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates attends a forum of the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai in this Nov. 5, 2018, file photo. Reuters-Yonhap

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will deliver an address at the National Assembly next week about international cooperation on COVID-19, officials said Tuesday.

Gates will visit parliament Tuesday morning to meet with Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and address the parliamentary budget committee about global health cooperation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Kim's office.

Gates, who co-chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is expected to touch on the importance of international cooperation and how South Korea can play a role in this process.

Gates last visited the National Assembly nine years ago when he gave a speech on his foundation to some 40 lawmakers at the invitation of then lawmaker Chung Mong-joon.

In June, Gates and President Yoon Suk-yeol spoke on the phone to discuss efforts to overcome the pandemic and South Korea's contribution to global health cooperation. (Yonhap)