1. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lim Sung-nam visited Belgium on July 18 and met separately with Secretary General of the European External Action Service Helga Schmid and Deputy Secretary General Jean-Christophe Belliard. In the meetings, the two sides discussed ways to advance the ROK-EU relations, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and ways for them to work together on the North Korean nuclear issue.

2. Vice Minister Lim said that the ROK and the EU are strategic partners which have concluded three major agreements -- Framework Agreement, FTA and Framework Agreement on participation in crisis management operations -- and have developed special cooperative relations. Vice Minister Lim also said that as part of the ROK government’s foreign policy efforts to go beyond its longstanding diplomacy focused on four major powers surrounding the Korean Peninsula and strengthen diplomacy towards Europe, the ROK is willing to further expand cooperation with the EU.

o Secretary General Schmid took note that cooperation between the ROK and the EU is going beyond the scope of bilateral relations and encompassing global security and crisis management issues, as demonstrated by the fact that the ROK, as a major partner of the EU, began participating in the EU’s counter-piracy operation off Somalia (Atalanta) after the Framework Agreement on participation in crisis management operations entered into force in December 2016.

3. Vice Minister Lim gave the EU side explanations on the outcome of the recent ROK-US summit and President Moon Jae-in’s speech in Berlin. He also said that there is great potential for cooperation between the ROK and the EU on the North Korean nuclear issue, as the EU’s policy of critical engagement, which seeks to maintain strong sanctions against North Korea, while at the same time seeking to induce change through dialogue with the North, is similar to the ROK government’s North Korea policy of pursuing both pressure and dialogue. He offered to closely work together to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.

o Secretary General Schmid explained that at the EU Foreign Affairs Council on July 17, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Mogherini expressed support for the ownership of the ROK to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. Secretary General Schmid also said that the EU hopes to continue to closely cooperate with the ROK government to solve the North Korean nuclear problem.

4. Vice Minister Lim also met with Deputy Secretary General Belliard, and discussed the ROK-EU relations and the North Korean nuclear issue. They also agreed to engage in extensive discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues by holding the ROK-EU high-level political dialogue in Seoul in the second half of this year.

5. Vice Minister Lim’s visit to the EU served as an opportunity to reaffirm the two sides’ commitment to further advance their relations, and solidify cooperation between the two sides on North Korea policy.


* unofficial translation