The European Commission announced, on Monday 28 November, the launch of a partnership between the EU and South Korea to strengthen cooperation between the two sides in the digital field.
“In an increasingly unstable world, the need to work with partners who share democratic values is more important than ever to address common challenges”, stressed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President Yoon Seok-youl of the Republic of Korea in a joint statement.
In detail, the partnership should serve to focus on joint work in semiconductors, next-generation mobile networks and quantum and High-Performance Computing.
Cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and data and skills should also be at the heart of the EU/South Korea partnership, so that “digital innovation pursues universal values such as freedom and human rights of the global citizen”, said Ursula von der Leyen and Yoon Seok-youl.
As such, ways to strengthen solidarity for the freedom of ‘digital citizens’ should be discussed in a consultation mechanism between South Korea and the EU.
This partnership marks a new stage in the EU’s relations with South Korea. On 17 December 2021, the European Commission had already announced the adoption of an adequacy decision on the existing standards for transfers of personal data from the EU to South Korea (see EUROPE 12856/4). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)