Remarks by President Charles Michel after the Republic of Korea - EU Leaders' video conference meeting

Source: European Council i, published on Tuesday, June 30 2020, 12:00.

I'm pleased that we could speak today with President Moon about important issues for both the EU and the Republic of Korea.

This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the EU-Republic of Korea Strategic Partnership. This partnership is anchored in the values of democracy, human rights, and rule of law. And our desire to find common answers to global challenges.

Today we had the occasion to focus on 3 key areas: the first one is COVID-19 and the economic recovery; the second one is the EU-South Korea relationship and the third one is the regional and international issues. Our goal is clear: we want to be a stronger player in Asia.

About COVID-19: we commend President Moon's successful handling of the pandemic in South Korea and we will continue to share information and best practices to bolster our mutual preparedness and response capacities. And we support reviewing the WHO’s handling of the crisis at the right time. We agree that multilateralism and solidarity are key to overcoming the pandemic. We discussed how to deepen our cooperation on research and development of vaccines and medicines. Any vaccine should be a global common good.

All vaccines must be a common good. That is what the European Union is working towards alongside all of its international partners. We also had the opportunity to discuss the economic recovery. How can we build a more resilient, more sustainable world with more inclusive societies? We took into account that both the United Nations and the G20 were the frameworks within which we had to work.

The European and Korean economies rely on openness. We will continue to support free and fair trade, and fight protectionism. We will also enhance our strategic autonomy. We agreed on the need to assist the most vulnerable, especially in developing countries, including on debt relief.

Ten years ago, in 2010, we took our cooperation to the next level - a Strategic Partnership. Today our relationship is strong - from economy and trade, to research, energy and non-proliferation.

We trade over 90 billion euros a year. The EU is the largest investor in South Korea.

Our cooperation is based on three agreements: the framework agreement, the free trade agreement and the agreement on EU crisis management operations. We also took the opportunity to welcome the signing of the aviation agreement and confirmed our joint commitment to enhancing our bilateral cooperation in various areas such as climate, digital, connectivity and human rights, and on preparations for the next physical summit to be held in Seoul.

We also discussed an issue that is of key importance to the European Union: how to further mobilise our efforts to combat the cyberattacks and disinformation that threaten the democratic systems that mean so much to us. I have said it before and I will say it again: the European Union wishes to be a global player. We would also like to play an active role - a more active role - in Asia, which means we would like, as we have said, to cooperate further on peace and security.

Naturally, we discussed the issue of the Korean peninsula. We expressed our serious concerns with regard to the resurgence of tensions, including in recent days. We encourage and support President Moon’s efforts to work towards a solution that must bring about greater stability and greater security. We also encourage the resumption of negotiations between North Korea and the United States.

I would like to add that the EU remains committed to the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. Full implementation of UN sanctions by the international community remains crucial.

We also touched on the situation in other parts of the world like in Iran, Ukraine, and of course we touched on the situation in Hong Kong.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reaffirmed the strategic importance of this relationship. We look forward to our physical meeting in Seoul as soon as the situation allows.

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