The 1st biannual visit to Seoul, 2015 was held in Seoul under the name, ‘Mission of the Republic of Korea to the European Union and the European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS)’ from June 15th to 19th, 2015 by EU Center. On this occasion, five assistants of the members of the European Parliament had visited Seoul.
The purpose of this visit was to promote relationship between the EU institutions and Republic of Korea and thereby reinforce EU-Korea relations by inviting ten assistants to the members of the European Parliament to Seoul in two distinct visits. During the first visit, the participants were given the opportunity to debate with their counterparts from the members of Korean National Assembly, as well as to meet with representatives of the South Korean Institutions, private corporations and NGOs to discuss about the bilateral parliamentary cooperation and trade, security framework in North East Asia, and the current situation of human rights in North Korea. The participants will then report their findings from the visit to their respective members of the European Parliament to use it as reference in their future decision making processes related to the Korean Peninsula.
In light of the participants’ actively involved responsibilities in Korean Peninsula matters as current assistants to the Member of the European Parliament, their participation as the Korean Delegation visiting Seoul would mean valuable experience in understanding Republic of Korea in the field of foreign affairs, human rights, and trade.