ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland will be able to test 500,000 more people for COVID-19 thanks to a shipment of tests from South Korea.

Watch Gov. Hogan’s remarks in the player above.

Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday that his wife Yumi Hogan, who is Korean-American, negotiated the shipment with Korean officials.

The Republican governor said Maryland has been doing everything in its power to increase testing capacity.

“Unfortunately, we have also had to compete with every state in America in our attempts to procure tests from every domestic producer in the U.S. and from sources around the globe,” Hogan said.

Hogan said his wife started talking to Korean officials in late March, setting in motion 22 days of vetting and negotiations.

The governor said adequate testing is one of the four building blocks on the road map to recovery and reopening businesses closed during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The (Trump) administration made it clear over and over again. They want the states to take the lead, and we have to go out and do it ourselves, and so that’s exactly what we did,” Hogan said.