9DASHLINE: Health, Trade and North Korea: The EU-South Korea Summit and Future Ties

June has been the month of EU virtual summits with its Asian counterparts. On 22 June, Presidents von der Leyen and Michel held a videoconference with China’s President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. A week later, on 30 June, the two EU leaders met up online with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. (To this EU-Asia line-up, one could also add the EU-Japan video-summit with Prime Minister Abe that took place earlier in late May). 

 

The key focus of these meetings was clear: fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout. However, the EU also raised a human rights agenda directly with Beijing, stressing its concerns over the national security law in Hong Kong and individual cases, such as of two Canadians Michaels Spavor and Kovrig, who were charged with espionage by the Chinese authorities just three days before the summit.

 

Brussels and Seoul, on the other hand, share views on liberal values and numerous issues of common interest, including global governance and the preservation of the rules-based international order. Since there is no major disagreement between them on these broader questions, what was the key take away from the EU-ROK summit? And how will the EU-Korea partnership play out in the future?