South Korea and the European Union: A promising partnership for development cooperation?

Since it joined the OECD-DAC, Korea has become an increasingly important development actor. Korea is keen to develop partnerships with traditional donors and has already done so with a number of European member states. Given the relevance of Korea’s remarkable development experience, not least with a view to bridging Northern and Southern agendas, as well as the synergies between Korean and European development priorities, greater EU-Korean cooperation on development could prove particularly fruitful. The EU-Korea strategic partnership contains commitments to collaborate on development. These commitments should be translated into practical cooperation activities in order to realise the potential of this partnership.