The tenth anniversary of the EU-ROK Strategic Partnership: Successes, Failures, and Prospects

CSDS POLICY BRIEF

By Ramon Pacheco Pardo

14.12.2020

The EU and South Korea are celebrating the tenth anniversary of their strategic partnership this year. Throughout the past decade, South Korea has become the Asian country with the deepest relationship with the EU. It was the first country in Asia to sign and implement a free trade agreement with the EU, which also doubled down as the EU’s first-ever new generation FTA. Brussels and Seoul also have a Framework Agreement in place to underpin their political relations. Furthermore, the EU and South Korea have also signed and implemented a Crisis Management participation agreement allowing South Korean troops to join EU missions. As of 2020, South Korea is the only Asian country with these three key agreements covering economic, political, and security relations with the EU in operation. The relationship between both is marked by many successes, some failures, and interesting prospects for further cooperation.

KFVUB_Policy-Brief-2020-15.pdf