KITA (Chairman: Jin Sik Yoon) and Korea Europe & You (President: Lee Jun) hosted Korea - EU New Trade Partnership Forum 2026 on Thursday, 21 May at KITA HQs in Seoul. Korea Europe & You, or known as KEY is a non-profit private think tank.
This forum was organised to support Korean companies to ponder on strategic solutions to be aligned with the European Union's greater focus on trade initiatives, including the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the Digital Product Passport (DPP). The forum was attended by approximately 100 people, including Jin Sik Yoon, the Chairman of KITA, Lee Jun, the President of KEY, H.E. Ugo Astuto, the European Union's Ambassador to Korea, businesspeople from exporter companies doing business with Europe and officials from relevant institutions.
In his opening remarks, Chairman Yoon mentioned, "Sufficient discussions and time for preparedness are needed to ensure the EU's new initiatives become beneficial for companies and not become detrimental factors in doing business" and stresssed, "KITA will act a as a reliable bridge between Korea and the EU by taking active measures in conveying the voices of Korean companies."
President Lee Jun mentioned in his welcome remarks, "Earlier adaptation of sustainable development is gaining importance admist the recent crisis in natural resources supply chains triggered by geopolitical tensions" and added, "Today's forum will be a meaningful milestone for Korean and European companies in changing imminent challenges into new impetus for innovation."
In his congratulatory message, ambassador Ugo Astuto said, "Korean companies are key partners for Europe as they proved their innovative capabilities and reliability at a time of multiple crisis unfolding at a global level." He also stressed, "The EU and Korea will establish more solid grounds for cooperation in an era of sustainability and transparency defining corporate competitiveness."
Today's forum was largely broken down into two parts: a) The EU's direction towards sustainability and relevant policies/regulations and b) fine examples of sustainable technological innovation.