NATO Approves Opening of South Korea Representative Office: "An Important Step to Strengthen Cooperation"

Approval Notice via Homepage... Yoon Soon-gu Appointed as Resident Representative and Ambassador to Belgium and the EU
Part of Installation Plan Coinciding with President Yoon's Attendance at NATO Summit
Kim Gun, Chief Nuclear Negotiator, Explains Bold Roadmap for North Korea Nuclear Issue at NATO

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has approved South Korea's request to open a representative office.

The North Atlantic Council, NATO's highest decision-making body, announced on the 27th (local time) via its website that “it has decided to accept the South Korean government's request to designate the South Korean Embassy in Belgium as a NATO representative office.”

The government had announced plans to establish a NATO representative office in June, coinciding with President Yoon Suk-yeol's attendance at the NATO summit.

NATO described this as “an important step to strengthen cooperation with South Korea,” noting that “NATO and South Korea have developed a strong cooperative relationship based on shared values since 2005.”

It added, “Political dialogue and practical cooperation are taking place in areas including non-proliferation, cyber defense, counter-terrorism, and disaster relief,” emphasizing that “South Korea is an active partner of NATO.”

Yoon Soon-gu, the Ambassador to Belgium and the EU, will concurrently serve as the permanent NATO representative. In the Asia-Pacific region, NATO partner countries include South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Except for South Korea, the other three countries have already established NATO representative offices, with their ambassadors to Belgium also serving as the chief NATO representatives.

Meanwhile, Kim Gun, the government's chief representative for North Korean nuclear issues and head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Peace and Security Negotiation Division for the Korean Peninsula, explained the “Bold Initiative,” a roadmap for North Korea’s denuclearization, at the NATO meeting on the 27th (local time).

Kim attended the expanded meeting of the NATO Council (NAC+4) held at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, where he briefed on the North Korean nuclear issue.

He reported that North Korea has recently legislated an aggressive nuclear policy that significantly lowers the threshold for nuclear use and has continued to enhance its missile capabilities, having launched 32 ballistic missiles just this year.

He emphasized the government’s response strategy and the Bold Initiative roadmap, which aim to deter North Korea’s nuclear threats, induce abandonment of nuclear development, and achieve denuclearization through diplomacy and dialogue.

He stated, “To bring North Korea onto the path of denuclearization, it is important to clearly demonstrate that the international community’s will for denuclearization is stronger than North Korea’s determination to develop nuclear weapons.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that participating countries recognized that the North Korean nuclear issue is also linked to European security and that the threat of North Korea’s nuclear development should not be neglected even amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

A total of 36 countries attended the meeting, including NATO’s 30 member states, accession candidates Sweden and Finland, and four Asia-Pacific partner countries: South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

Additionally, before and after the council meeting, Kim met with Mircea Geoan?, NATO Deputy Secretary General, and David van Bael, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, to share assessments of the North Korean nuclear threat and discuss cooperation measures.