2023 marks sixty years of diplomatic ties between the European Union and Korea, which has become the EU’s ninth largest trading partner, with a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. At Korea’s Embassy to Belgium, the EU and NATO, Ambassador Yoon Soon-gu gave an exclusive interview to EU Reporter’s Political Editor Nick Powell. The Ambassador emphasised to […]
Seoul, Jun 22 (EFE).- South Korea will establish a diplomatic mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, a representative of the presidential office announced Wednesday, according to Yonhap news agency. It comes ahead of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s visit to Spain to attend next week’s NATO summit, which will be his first as …
The past two weeks in Germany have shown how quickly political winds can turn.
On 29 April, Germany’s top constitutional court in Karlsruhe ruled that the country’s climate protection law infringed upon the rights of the nation’s youth. The law, which aimed to cut emissions by 55% by 2030 and reach climate neutrality by 2050, was considered too vague by the judges, who gave legislators until the end of 2022 to fix it.
The case – previously only of interest to legal scholars and climate activists until the ruling was announced – created a political whirlwind.
On 5 May, the federal government followed up. Taking observers by surprise, senior cabinet members announced plans to aim for climate neutrality by 2045 instead of 2050 and cut emissions by 65% before the end of this decade.
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EDITOR’s TAKE
Earlier this week, the EU suspended plans for a trade deal with China and is now reviving efforts for a similar pact with India.
Both the EU and India are wrestling with the growing power of China – and China’s rise is inevitably set to bring Brussels and Delhi closer together, be it in trade, infrastructure partnerships or regional security.
The idea: to join forces to develop an alternative to the Chinese Silk Road initiative.
At the same time, Delhi’s growing rivalry with Beijing, manifested through repeated violent clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers on the border in the Himalayas over the past year or so, has led to a strategic reorientation.
Climate change is likely to be a key area to strengthen cooperation between the Republic of Korea and the EU in the coming years, the country’s ambassador to Brussels, Yoon Soon-gu, told EURACTIV in an interview about multilateralism, climate cooperation and the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
Yoon Soon-gu is the ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Belgium, Luxembourg, the EU and NATO.
He provided written answers to questions by EURACTIV’s Alexandra Brzozowski.
The EU-South Korea relationship is underpinned by agreements on political relations and sectoral cooperation, free trade, and crisis management cooperation. What initiative do you expect from the EU side? Where do you see the potential for an expansion?