Abstract
This chapter examines the evolution of security cooperation between the European Union and South Korea, two like-minded polities sharing a similar perspective on global governance while being confronted by distinct security environments. With a strategic partnership founded predominantly on strong economic ties and belief in multilateralism, the two sides have developed close cooperation on a range of traditional and non-traditional security issues despite their physical remoteness and a considerable divergence in their perceptions of threats. The chapter concludes that the widening gulf between the United States and China challenges both the EU and South Korea in similar ways, strengthening the case for closer security relations in the future.
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Notes
- 1.
Japan refers to the Liancort Rocks as ‘Takeshima’, ROKas ‘Dokdo’; China refers to Iedo/Ieodo as ‘Suyan Rock’.
- 2.
The authors carried out 26 expert practitioner surveys/interviews (a convenience sample) focusing on high-ranking diplomats with remits for EU-ROK relations from the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the ROK, European Council policymakers, and security officials/advisors at the South Korean executive office (the ‘Blue House’). The surveys/interviews were carried out in person or by email from December 2017 to May 2019. The surveys/interviews used a structured format of identical questions for respondents followed by discussion (for respondents willing to take extra time). The authors may be contacted for survey form with text of standard questions and tabulated responses. A shorter follow-up survey of twenty EU member state political counsellors conducted in October 2020 supports the results above. Shared EU–ROKthreat perceptions were designated as falling between Low (9 responses) and Medium (10 responses) (one respondent answered High), while security cooperation responses tended toward Low + (Low = 15 responses; Medium = 5 responses).
- 3.
Note that surveys were conducted prior to COVID-19. Human (health) security threat perceptions likely converged since early 2020 along with greater policy response convergence and cooperation (notably in epidemiological exchange and vaccinecooperation).
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Christiansen, T., Richey, M. (2021). Security Relations Between the EU and South Korea. In: Christiansen, T., Kirchner, E., Tan, S.S. (eds) The European Union’s Security Relations with Asian Partners. The European Union in International Affairs. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69966-6_18
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