ROK-NL Forum 2025
Welcoming Remarks

Wednesday, April 23, 2025, 10:00-16:30
HCSS, Lange Voorhout 1, The Hague, The Netherlands
Amb. Gheewhan Kim President, The Korea Foundation

(Greetings)
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honor and pleasure to welcome you to the first Korea-the Netherlands Policy Forum in the Hague—a city that stands as a symbol of international law and peace.

This forum has special significance, as it precedes the NATO Summit to be held in the Hague this year, on June 24 and 25.

I am Gheewhan Kim, president of the Korea Foundation.

Please allow me to express my sincere appreciation to Mr. Michel Rademaker, Deputy Executive Director and co-founder of the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, for his strong efforts to convene this forum at a timely juncture.
My special thanks go to H.E. Dr. Uri Rosenthal, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, and H.E. Professor Jin Park, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, for your presence today.

I want to extend my sincere gratitude and greetings to:
- Prof. Young-Chang Joo, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University;
- H.E. Amb. Won-Soo Kim, Former Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and the High Representative for Disarmament;
- Prof. Chung Min Lee, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace;
- Prof. Suh-Yong Chung, Professor in the Division of International Studies at Korea University;
and all distinguished participants from Korea and the Netherlands.

(ROK-NL Strategic Partnership)
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in April 1961, Korea and the Netherlands have grown a strong partnership based on mutual respect and trust. Korea and the Netherlands act with shared purposes as well.
We are not only close bilateral partners, but also strategic collaborators on regional and global issues.
In 2022, Korea and the Netherlands agreed to elevate our relations to a strategic partnership together,

working together to uphold and advance common values and core interests such as liberal democracy, human rights, climate change, future pandemics, peace and stability in the region, and the rules-based international order.

(KF programs in the Netherlands and Europe)
Since 1991, the Korea Foundation has supported a range of programs in the Netherlands as well as in Europe, that promoting Korean studies at the Universities, Korea exhibitions at the Museums and galleries, and providing policy research grants to the think tanks and policy institutes.

We support Korea chairs and Korea Fellows. We provide scholarships and research fellowships. We invite senior and youth leaders in diverse professions, including the Government, Parliament, University, Media, art institutions.

The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies is a great partner of the Korea Foundation, that promotes cooperation and exchanges on global/regional security challenges, AI, emerging technologies, and international governance, and STEM and high-tech industry cooperation, building public-private-academic partnership and eco-system together.

The Leiden University and 흐로닝언 University have been the hub of Korean studies with a long history in the Netherlands and a successful example of Korean Studies in Europe.

Last but not least, the outstanding roles and great tradition of the Dutch arts and culture are, I am sure, another invaluable inspiration and the reason why Korea wants to increase exchanges and cooperation on arts and culture programs with the Netherlands, including modern and contemporary arts.

(Global Security Cooperation)
As we now witness increasingly fragmented and turbulent world, in the middle of still ongoing war in Ukraine, deepening US-China strategic rivalry and reciprocal tariffs and trade war getting uglier, it is essential for like-minded partners like Korea and the Netherlands to navigate rough seas and changing tides and to pool resources and efforts together in the current global reset in security, economic, trade, and technological affairs.

I am confident that Korea as NATO IP4 member and US-Korea-Japan Trilateral member will contribute to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and trans-Atlantic as well, adding shared purpose and willing commitment.

(Emerging Technologies and AI)
The REAIM Summits in the Netherlands in 2023, Korea in 2024, and Spain this year on the responsible use of AI in the military domain, stand as a successful example of our shared leadership that sets international norms and standards, allowing technological progress.

(STEM and High-Tech Industry)
Korea and the Netherlands are key actors in the global high-tech and industrial ecosystem, including globally competitive semiconductor firms, navigating complex challenges of supply chain vulnerability, technological disruption, and geopolitical headwinds.

We need to focus, not only on innovation and competitiveness, but also on resilience, agility, and sustainable transformation.

(Closing)
I am sure that our common efforts today will strengthen strategic partnership in many critical areas. I look forward to your lively and productive discussions today.

Thank you.