Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The joint summit between the European Union and South Korea will be held today in Seoul, according to a statement of the European Council in Brussels. The tenth summit between the European Union and the Republic of Korea will celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the European Union and South Korea.
The EU will be represented by Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. President Yun Seok Yul will represent the Republic of Korea (South Korea).
The summit will be an opportunity to send a strong signal of increased cooperation between two like-minded partners.
The leaders will assess progress in strengthening their broad strategic partnership and will discuss the following issues: peace and stability - economy and trade - sustainable development
On the first file, which is peace and stability, and according to a statement distributed in Brussels, the European Union and South Korea are expected to express their strong joint support for the support of the rules-based international order. The leaders will discuss the latest developments related to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the Russian war, the European Union and its member states have provided about 70 billion euros to Ukraine and its people. They also took unprecedented measures against Russia.
The leaders are also expected to discuss North Korea's repeated ballistic missile launches, its ongoing nuclear program, and South Korea's "Bold Initiative," a roadmap for building peace and security through the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The EU and South Korea will also address issues related to:
Navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region, the file of pluralism, and other files, including maritime security, electronic security, and manipulation of foreign information
Secondly, trade and economy
The leaders will review the progress of their economic partnership, which is based on the South Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement. The topics on their agenda are:
Market access for agro-food products, labor issues, WTO reform, economic security cooperation, and addressing supply chain disruptions
Faced with issues related to the global energy market, they will discuss how to accelerate the transition to clean energy and decarbonisation. They will also explore ways to deepen their collaboration on various digital and data protection issues as well as industry competitiveness.
Third, the file of sustainable development
The European Union and South Korea will discuss challenges related to climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
The leaders are expected to launch the South Korea-EU Green Partnership to strengthen their cooperation in the transition to a zero-economy.
Also on the summit agenda:
Managing health problems across borders
Cooperation in the field of air transport
Education and culture
previous summit
At the previous summit in 2018, the leaders of the European Union and South Korea reaffirmed their strong ties and commitment to strengthening their strategic partnership.