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The European Union and South Korea agreed Wednesday to launch negotiations on a classified information-sharing accord and forge new partnerships across defense, trade, and energy, as leaders warned that the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific can no longer be treated as separate concerns.
Meeting at the 11th EU-South Korea Summit in Brussels, European Council President Antonio Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said the two sides would begin talks on a Security of Information Agreement to enable the safe exchange of sensitive intelligence between Seoul and Brussels, framing the move as a direct response to a deteriorating global security environment.
"Our security is more interconnected than ever," von der Leyen said, pointing specifically to North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine as evidence that events in one region carry direct consequences for another.
The presence of North Korean soldiers in the Ukraine conflict, a development that has alarmed Western governments and deepened concerns about military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, loomed over the summit's security discussions. Von der Leyen praised South Korea for its backing of Ukraine, calling Seoul "one of Europe's closest partners in the Indo-Pacific region and on the global stage."
Lee, for his part, echoed the call for continued EU engagement on the Korean Peninsula, urging Brussels to sustain pressure on North Korea's nuclear program and support efforts toward lasting peace. He expressed confidence that the information-sharing agreement, once adopted, would create a durable foundation for bilateral security cooperation.
Costa framed the summit in explicitly values-based terms, describing the two sides as "trusted strategic partners and friends" united by commitments to democracy, the rule of law, and multilateralism. "We cannot allow any state to use military aggression to threaten the peace, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of any country," he said. "Otherwise, the global order would collapse into chaos."
Beyond security, the leaders agreed to establish a competitiveness partnership and a high-level economic dialogue spanning trade, investment, industrial policy, economic security, and artificial intelligence, signaling an intention to institutionalize ties that have grown considerably since the EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement entered into force in December 2015. Trade in goods between the two sides exceeded 124 billion euros in 2025.
The summit also produced a landmark Digital Trade Agreement, designed to strengthen data flows, expand e-commerce, and deepen digital economic integration, building on years of negotiations that began in 2022. Von der Leyen said both sides would also cooperate on securing access to critical raw materials and shielding sensitive technologies from external vulnerabilities.
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