In 2020, Andreea Zaharia, associate researcher at RISAP, participated in the pan-European research project Mapping Out EU-South Korea Relations: Key Member States’ Perspectives. The project was implemented by the KF-VUB Korea Chair of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and concluded with a report analyzing the relations between South Korea and 7 EU member states, including Romania. Andreea conducted research on the state of Romania-South Korea relations and their various dimensions, from political, to economic, security and cultural relations.

Her article Romania-South Korea relations: A strategic partnership in progress is part of the report Mapping Out EU-South Korea Relations: Key Member States’ Perspectives (pages 66-76). Below is the introduction of the article, while the full report is available on the website of the KF-VUB Korea Chair.

Introduction

Romania and South Korea share a relatively short history of 30 years of diplomatic ties, a strategic partnership in development, economic and investment relations that continue to grow and close people-to-people contacts. While diplomatic ties were established only in March 1990, the idea of building connections between the two sides dates back to the early 1970s, when all South Korean attempts coming from authorities or private individuals however stumbled over the ideological wall of socialism (Urian 2019). It was the collapse of communism and the establishment of a democratic regime in Bucharest that created the foundations for diplomatic relations between Romania and South Korea.

Multiple official and state visits paid by both sides, especially after 2000, have helped cement the bilateral dialogue. The evolution of bilateral relations led to the signing in September 2008, in Seoul, of the Joint Declaration on the Establishment of the Bilateral Strategic Partnership between Romania and the Republic of Korea, complemented in 2010 by the Joint Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Partnership. Promoting liberal democracy and the market economy, the document establishes the framework for medium and long term cooperation in political and security areas (including energy security), in trade
and investment, and in cultural and educational areas (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania 2020).

Thus, Romania became the first EU country to sign a strategic partnership with South Korea, even before the EU-South Korea bilateral relations were upgraded to the same level. South Korea was also Romania’s first strategic partner in Asia and is still its only such partner on the continent, making it one of the top priorities in the region for Romania, together with China and Japan.

The participation of the incumbent South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Annual Reunion of Romanian Diplomacy in September 2020, as the first Asian foreign minister to participate at this meeting in the last ten years, stands as proof of the increased level of political and diplomatic cooperation between
the two sides (Yonhap 2020).

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This article has been published by Andreea Zaharia, Associate researcher at RISAP, in the report Mapping Out EU-South Korea Relations: Key Member States’ Perspectives. You can read the full article in the report available on the website of the KF-VUB Korea Chair of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.