Key Takeaways:

- Announced by European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen and ROK President Yoon Suk Yeol in November 2022, the Republic of Korea (ROK) – European Union (EU) Digital Partnership is a milestone initiative to deepen collaboration among the two parties, building on 60 years of strong diplomatic ties and complementing existing agreements focusing on emerging, critical and digital technologies.

- In its first two years of implementation, the EU-ROK Digital Partnership has started delivering tangible outcomes.

- In this perspective, the future of the ROK-EU Digital Partnership is set to move further from vision to action, strengthening the connection among all actors of the EU and ROK digital ecosystems, ensuring a human-centric digital transformation of our societies.

Announced by European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen and ROK President Yoon Suk Yeol in November 2022, the Republic of Korea (ROK) – European Union (EU) Digital Partnership is a milestone initiative to deepen collaboration among the two parties, building on 60 years of strong diplomatic ties and complementing existing agreements focusing on emerging, critical and digital technologies.

Leveraging on the robust collaboration in trade, research, and technology, the EU and ROK affirmed the Digital Partnership’s importance at the EU-ROK Summit in May 2023, agreeing that a secure and inclusive digital economy is a shared strategic priority for both parties. The Partnership further underscores common values – openness, reciprocity, and trust – in the digital domain, aligning the EU and ROK as like-minded partners setting high standards globally.

To implement such vision, an EU-ROK Digital Partnership Council meets annually at ministerial level to guide cooperation. The first Council was held in Seoul on 30 June 2023, while the second Council met in Brussels on 26 March 2024, resulting in concrete initiatives to operationalize the partnership. Working groups and forums have also been established to connect experts and monitor progress.

In its first two years of implementation, the EU-ROK Digital Partnership has started delivering tangible outcomes. For example, joint EU–ROK semiconductor research projects were launched to develop next-generation AI chips and sensors. Also, a Memorandum of Understanding on digital technology standardisation was signed in 2023 – the EU’s INSTAR project and Korean partners formed a task force to align standards in 5G/6G, AI, cybersecurity, data, IoT, and quantum technologies These steps illustrate the partnership moving from high-level agreement to concrete cooperation.

Within this context, the Digital Partnerships in Action (DPA) project, funded by the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) contributed to the implementation of the EU-ROK Digital Partnership, providing technical expertise and advisory services in support of digital policy and regulatory convergence between the EU and ROK, as well as strengthening networking, outreach and policy coordination, through technology diplomacy actions and dedicated stakeholder engagement to raise awareness and sharing knowledge on benefits and opportunities of the EU-ROK Digital Partnership.

As a matter of fact, as part of the Digital Partnership’s Joint Statement in 2022, both sides reaffirmed their shared commitment that development and use of digital technologies should be guided by democratic values, respect for universal values of human rights, the objectives to address social issues, and the principle to enhance the quality of people’s lives. In this perspective, the Digital Partnership between ROK and the EU intends to provide an overarching framework of advanced cooperation in the full spectrum of digital issues including infrastructures, skills, digital transformation of businesses, and digitalization of public services as well as digital economy and trade.

During the first Digital Partnership Council meeting on 30 June 2023 in Seoul and the second one in Brussels on 26 March 2024, the EU and ROK agreed on key outcomes to advance cooperation for an inclusive and resilient digital transformation. More specifically, both partners agreed to work on Semiconductors, High Performance Computing (HPC) and Quantum technology, 5G and beyond, Online and Digital Platform Cooperation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Digital Identity and Trust Services and Digital Trade, and Cybersecurity, among other activities being discussed.

In each of these areas, specific activities have been implemented, demonstrating the concrete results that can be achieved allocating shared resources and developing joint projects to strengthen both the EU and ROK digital innovation ecosystems. This will ultimately support relevant industries, research and investors, defining future research directions and innovation opportunities, as well as identifying common initiatives aimed at reinforcing the skills and capacities in the collaboration of EU and ROK stakeholders.

In the closing phase of the Digital Partnerships in Action (DPA) project, in April 2025, an informal gathering of stakeholders’ representatives from government agencies, industry associations, think tanks and academic and research institutions, convened by the EU Delegation in Seoul with the support of the DPA Team of Experts, showed the important progress realized in a relatively small period of time, and the promising outlook that is foreseen as part of the emerging cooperation under the Digital Partnership.

It is widely acknowledged that this new mechanism of cooperation offers a constructive platform for dialogue which can generate actionable input across all digital themes, at the hearth of the EU-ROK technology diplomacy cooperation, especially in a period of profound reshaping of the geo-political relationships at the global level.

For instance, in the area of semiconductors, it must be underlined the sector’s position as one of the most intensive in research and development, also considering its highly globalised and complex supply chain. EU and ROK semiconductor technologies and production can be seen as complementary, and a closer alignment of policies to support the global semiconductor ecosystem shall be promoted, especially in light of the importance of cooperation to strengthen supply chain security and resilience.

In a similar vein, building on a very successful joint networking and matchmaking event supported by the DPA project in the context of ROK’s association to the Horizon Europe programme in the field of quantum technologies, it shall be emphasized the crucial need of fostering a stronger industry collaboration, defining common standards, intellectual property rules, and trade agreements, seeking greater alignment in international forums, continuing joint research and development, encouraging further networking between quantum companies and academic institutions.

In terms of Cybersecurity, a closer cooperation in real-time information sharing and further alignment on policies for addressing non-technical risk factors shall be enhanced. This calls for continued exchanges on cybersecurity skills development, as showed by a recent Study Visit of EU experts in ROK organised within the context of the DPA project.

With regard to data governance, a key element of digital trade cooperation, multiple opportunities for EU–Korea cooperation can be highlighted, from the ongoing establishment of the GAIA-X Hub Korea to the importance of further standardization efforts, facilitating data flows in both directions, in line with ROK’s adequacy assessment process with the EU.

Along the same line, a very important area of mutual interest can be clearly found in the field of Artificial intelligence (AI), where cooperation on foundation models, responsible implementation practices, and the development of the so called “physical AI governance” call for harmonized standards for trustworthy AI, joint work on enhancing AI energy efficiency, closer cooperation on the practical implementation of trustworthy AI solutions, and the sharing of best practices between ROK and the EU.

Finally, on 6G and next generation networks, priority actions for ROK-EU Digital Partnership should focus on pursuing further standardization, particularly in relation to interface development, and promoting a closer cooperation on decentralized AI applications for mobile devices and energy-efficient services.

In conclusion, the strong and growing interest across all digital cooperation areas, as demonstrated by the several joint activities developed during the implementation of the Digital Partnership, reaffirms the need for structured multi-stakeholder dialogue, ensuring that inputs from all sectors directly inform and guide the strategic evolution of the ROK-EU Digital Partnership.

In this perspective, the future of the ROK-EU Digital Partnership is set to move further from vision to action, strengthening the connection among all actors of the EU and ROK digital ecosystems, ensuring a human-centric digital transformation of our societies.

*The views expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union.