Europe and Inter-Korean Relations

The chapter analyzes the development of European involvement in inter-Korean relations, with a specific emphasis on the agency of Europe - EU institutions and member states - in inter-Korean relations or the lack thereof. in order to appreciate the close connection between Europe's approach and the regional and international environment toward inter-Korean relations, the chapter starts with the analysis of the period, towards the end of the 1990s, in which engagement and cooperation between the two Koreas became the official policy of the South Korean government, the so-called Sunshine Policy. In this very conducive environment, the EU and its member states were able to put in place an approach based on engagement, cooperation and assistance with Pyongyang. The second part of the chapter focuses on the different approach to inter-Korean relations put in place by conservative governments in South Korea, starting from 2008, and on the deterioration of the international environment that led to a complete breakdown of negotiations with the international community regrading the nuclear program. These developments also had strong repercussions on the European approach toward North Korea and inter-Korean relations, with the EU and most member states substantially scaling down their involvement.