The top diplomats of South Korea and the United Arab Emirates held phone talks Tuesday over bilateral cooperation in fighting the new coronavirus, the foreign ministry here said.

The conversation between Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and her UAE counterpart, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, came after South Korea shipped 51,000 coronavirus sampling kits in emergency exports to the Middle Eastern country last month.

The UAE foreign minister expressed gratitude for Korea's cooperation in responding to the COVID-19 outbreak, while noting Seoul's anti-virus approach has become an exemplary model for the international community, the ministry said in a press release.

The two ministers also stressed the importance of global cooperation in staunching the spread of the virus and pledged to work together to overcome the pandemic based on their countries' strategic partnership.

Separately, Kang also held a phone conversation with Moldovan Foreign Minister Oleg Tulea.

Tulea asked for Seoul to share its experience in responding to the novel virus while calling for cooperation in Moldova's efforts to secure quarantine supplies, the ministry said.

Kang pledged to continue to share Korea's experience in battling the pandemic and look into the possibility of cooperation in the supply of quarantine products.

(Yonhap)