The Korea Foundation co-organized the 14th Korea-Spain at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul on November 16 and 17, 2022, jointly with the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Casa Asia.

Participants from the Korean side included Kim Gheewhan, President, Korea Foundation; Bark Tae-ho, former Minister for Trade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Bahk Sahng-hoon, South Korean Ambassador to Spain; Chun Hong-jo, former South Korean Ambassador to Spain; Lee Chung-min, Professor of the Institute of Security Convergence, KAIST and former Ambassador for International Security Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Choe Won-gi, Professor, Korea National Diplomatic Academy; Yeon Won-ho, Head, Economic Security Team, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy; Cho Sang-hyeon, Director, Institute for International Trade, Korea International Trade Association; Byun Min-su, Director, Survey and Statistics Department, Employment Development Institute, Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities; Park Chul, Professor Emeritus of Spanish and former President of HUFS; Yim Ho-joon, Professor, Department of Hispanic Language and Literature, Seoul National University; and Lee Gang-han, Professor, Academy of Korean Studies.

Participants from the Spanish side included Javier Parrondo, Director General, Casa Asia; Javier Salido, Director General for North America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Pacific, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Guillermo Kirkpatrick, Spanish Ambassador to South Korea; Javier Güemes, Director of International Cooperation, ONCE Foundation; and Carmen Pastor, Academic Director, Cervantes Institute.

About 50 leaders in the two countries’ political, government, academic and other sectors, about 30 from Korea and about 20 from Spain, attended the Forum to have in-depth discussion under the theme of new geopolitical dynamics in Europe and the Asia-Pacific. Topics discussed at each session of the Forum were new geopolitical dynamics in Europe and the Asia-Pacific for Session 1, bilateral cooperation in response to global supply chain crisis for Session 2, welfare of the handicapped and aging society for Session 3, and cultural and academic exchange between Korea and Spain for Session 4.

Especially, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who visited Korea for the ROK-Spain summit meeting, delivered a speech on the future-oriented development of bilateral relations between Korea and Spain at the closing ceremony of the Forum. The two countries upgraded their relations to strategic partnership in 2021 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between ROK and Spain, and have promoted the development of bilateral relations on a continual basis through the operation of regular dialogue channels such as the Korea-Spain Forum.