Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
EU, Korea discuss Indo-Pacific strategies, regional policies
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By Kwon Mee-yoo
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Experts from Europe and Korea discussed ways of cooperating on global issues, key challenges and geopolitical dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region at a roundtable, Friday.
Co-hosted by the embassies of France, Germany and the Netherlands in Korea in cooperation with the Delegation of the European Union to Korea, the roundtable explored the EU's strategy for the Indo-Pacific region ahead of the Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific in Paris slated for Tuesday.
Ambassador of France to Korea Philippe Lefort highlighted the significance of the forum, which will feature some 50 countries from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania, and in which Korea's Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong will give opening remarks.
"The minister forum is very timely also, because in recent years there has been a growing awareness that the EU and Indo-Pacific countries are natural partners in many areas. We came to realize that our futures are deeply linked because of the interdependency of all economies and common global challenges," Lefort said.
He noted that France was the first EU member to publish its Indo-Pacific strategy as a country with a historical and territorial presence in the area.
"France seems to be a committed actor and a bridge between the two regions... I hope that today's event will help you understand the different Indo-Pacific strategies of EU and its member states and, most importantly, that it will show you how EU and the Republic of Korea can work together to contribute to a better rules-based and open regional cooperation."
German Ambassador to Korea Michael Reiffenstuel emphasized that the political and economic balance is increasingly shifting towards the Indo-Pacific with the rise of Asia.
"The region is becoming a key to shaping the international order of the 21st century... From a global perspective, I think this region has many advantages. It has a young, well-educated population and they can look back at this region on decades now of considerable economic growth and innovation hubs," Reiffenstuel said.
"As an internationally active trading nation and proponents of a multilateral rules-based international order, Germany, embedded in the European Union, has a great and fundamental interest in participating in Asia's growth and in being involved in shaping the Indo-Pacific region, as well as upholding global norms in regional structure."
The roundtable was held under the Chatham House Rule, thus the speakers could not be attributed.
A speaker explained why the EU has set up strategies for the Indo-Pacific region.
"The Indo-Pacific, for us, is obviously not only the future, but it's already the present. The world's center of gravity is already there, both in geo-economics and geopolitical terms... We have to understand that the current dynamics in the Indo-Pacific have given rise to an intense geopolitical competition, which adds to increasing tensions on trade and supply chains as well as in technological, political and security areas," he said. "Our ultimate aim is to maintain and reinforce a free and open Indo-Pacific for all, while building strong and lasting partnerships."
He also spoke of Korea being a close partner in the region, providing an additional regional framework for cooperation in terms of multilateral dynamics.
"There are many common analogies between the EU's Indo-Pacific strategy and the New Southern Policy of Korea. Both partners are well aware of the centrality of ASEAN in this regard. This being said, with its commitment to an open and free Indo-Pacific and to an open and rules-based international security architecture, the EU's Indo-Pacific strategy can also substantially contribute to peace on the Korean Peninsula," he said.
"We'll set the context in which we address challenges emanating from the peace threats on the Korean Peninsula. This means that the long term objectives of the EU will remain the achievement of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization and respect for human rights as required by all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions. With this objective in mind, the EU could support the peace process on the Korean Peninsula in a variety of ways by contributing to the de-escalation of tensions and the establishment of confidence-building measures by supporting any denuclearization negotiations."
Another speaker said the Indo-Pacific is not just a geographic concept, but rather a geographic translation of strategy. France built a series of partnerships gradually in the region, namely with India, Japan, Australia and ASEAN.
"This is an attempt to find a region in order to achieve three things ― manage the rise of China, preserve whatever can be preserved of the Transatlantic Alliance and, at the same time, to the extent possible, avoid the consequences of polarization, which is the rivalry between China and the U.S."
How Japan and Australia came to rise and drove Indo-Pacific discourses was also discussed.
"The idea of forming a coalition of like-minded democracies to balance or perhaps even contain Chinese influence goes back to 2006 when Japanese policymakers sought ways for Japan to remain Asia's leading nation," the speaker said.
"For bringing more players to the table, the Indo-Pacific idea mitigates the dilemma caused by Japan's and Australia's strong economic dependence on an increasingly assertive China on the one hand and deepening security political dependence on the increasingly volatile U.S. on the other."
Maritime security and digital resilience were also mentioned as areas where the EU can cooperate with the Indo-Pacific region.
"Many countries in the Indo-Pacific want to maintain their own digital sovereignty. So to help countries with that and to offer alternatives is where the EU is acting or should be doing way more still and where we can coordinate with the South Korean players," the speaker said.
Another speaker disagreed with the focus on managing China, but emphasized cooperation.
"It is really a strategy which is meant to be a political recommitment and reengagement of what we have been doing all over and perhaps is not well known... We have been doing a lot of things for many years in the Indo-Pacific area and what we want to do now is to try to recommit ourselves, step up this engagement and build stronger partnerships."