EU envoy sees 'productive' outcome on steel dispute, warns of risks from NK-Russia ties

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The European Union's ambassador to South Korea has called for stronger cooperation between South Korea and the EU on security and a broader range of economic issues amid mounting geopolitical challenges, while expressing confidence that consultations over the EU's new steel tariff scheme will produce a mutually acceptable outcome.

In an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Friday, Ugo Astuto also warned that deepening military ties between North Korea and Russia could heighten proliferation risks on the Korean Peninsula and called for continued efforts toward the North's denuclearization.

"We have had a pretty intensive dialogue on this issue over many weeks and months, so I think we need to wait for this conversation to come to its conclusion, which should be imminent," Astuto said of ongoing consultations over the EU's planned new steel tariffs.

"The outcome will be productive and will take into account the concerns of both sides."

The EU plans to tighten its steel safeguard measures starting July 1 as part of efforts to address global overcapacity. Under the revised system, tariff-free import quotas for a range of steel products will be reduced, while imports exceeding the quotas will face a higher tariff rate of 50 percent.

During a summit with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa in Brussels earlier this month, President Lee Jae Myung asked the EU to give favorable consideration to South Korean steelmakers amid concerns that the measures could disproportionately affect the domestic steel industry despite the bilateral Korea-EU free trade agreement.

The ambassador rejected criticism that the measures amount to protectionism, arguing that the EU remains one of the world's most open markets.

"Seventy percent of goods enter the European market with little or no tariffs," he said, noting that South Korea has enjoyed a trade surplus in goods vis-a-vis the EU over the past several years.

Astuto warned of the fast-developing military nexus between Russia and North Korea, stressing that Pyongyang has played a role in Moscow's war against Ukraine by supplying troops and ammunition, while Russia has, in turn, "already empowered" the North.

"We have seen a closer political, military and strategic relationship developing between Russia and North Korea, and this runs a risk of fueling further proliferation on the Korean Peninsula," he said.

"It is important that we continue to work for peace on the peninsula, but we also need to continue to condemn violations of relevant U.N. resolutions. We need to continue to work for complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearization."

Following the summit, South Korea and the EU issued a joint statement strongly condemning military cooperation between North Korea and Russia as illegal and as enabling Moscow to sustain its war against Ukraine.

The leaders also expressed "grave concerns" over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, stressing that the North "will never be accepted as a nuclear-weapons state" under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and calling on all U.N. members to fully implement sanctions against Pyongyang.

"I think we see with graphic evidence today that security in the Indo-Pacific and security in Europe are connected," Astuto said. "It is important that we take stock of the fact that the nexus between North Korea and Russia poses a risk for us all."

Under the circumstances, Astuto called for broader cooperation between South Korea and the EU as like-minded democracies facing common geopolitical challenges, ranging from military threats to economic security and supply chain disruptions.

"We need to look at the security and defense dimension of our partnership in a holistic way. It's not just about the hardware; it's also economic security and the security of supply chains," he said.

Following the summit, South Korea and the EU agreed to launch negotiations on a bilateral information security pact, which is expected to facilitate the safe exchange of sensitive information and support cooperation in defense, industry and research.

The envisioned agreement is not aimed at any single threat or event but rather at "developing the tools in order to have a more complete and broader conversation on security and defense issues," the ambassador said.

Astuto also cited the green and digital transition, research cooperation and artificial intelligence as key areas for future collaboration.

"The strategic partnership between Korea and the European Union is bound to develop even further and fast, and the summit was a very important milestone in that respect," he said.

Courtesy: www.koreatimes.co.kr