Past Events

This Business Forum aims build on the momentum generated by the ASEM and EU-Korea Summits on 18-19 October. It will further promote business exchanges between Europe and South Korea by exploring the investment environment in Korea. This will involve a consideration of a range of sectors combined with an assessment of the country's approach to intellectual property rights. 

On 23 January 2019, the KF-VUB Korea Chair organised a breakfast roundtable and discussion on ‘Where do we stand in inter-Korean relations and with North Korea’. Welcoming remarks given by Prof. Dr. Ramon Pacheco Pardo, KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Institute for European Studies (VUB), were followed by an introduction by Prof. Dr. Moon Chung-in, Special Advisor for Foreign Affairs and National Security to President Moon Jae-in and Distinguished Professor at Yonsei University, on the state of inter-Koreans relations and US-North Korea diplomacy.

President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are meeting for a second summit in Hanoi on 27-28 February. The first summit in Singapore did not lead to the announced concrete outcomes. While North Korea has refrained from testing any missiles, there has been little progress on the ‘complete and verifiable destruction’ of the DPRK’s nuclear weapons. North Korea is trying to link any such moves with a lifting of UN sanctions, now often breached by various actors. The EU is not directly involved but has been a strong supporter of the sanctions regime. If there is an agreement, however, it is likely that the EU may be asked to provide technical and economic assistance to the DPRK. To discuss the outcome of the Hanoi summit, the EU-Asia Centre and the KF-VUB Korea Chair invite you to a panel discussion from 17:00-18:30 on Wednesday 6 March at the Brussels Press Club, 95 Rue Froissart, 1000 Brussels.