Germany-South Korea Relations: An Exceptional Relationship Based on Strong Economic and Academic Cooperation

Germany and South Korea are connected by a common historical experience of national division, close economic ties, and intensive cooperation in education, science, and technology. The relationship between the two nations officially started on 26 November 1883 in the form of a trade-, shipping-, and friendship treaty. The Republic of Korea (henceforth South Korea) and the Federal Republic of Germany, henceforth Germany, established consular relations in 1954 and full diplomatic relations in 1957. Since then the bilateral relationship has grown to become a framework that guarantees commercial activities and investments and promotes people-to-people exchanges, to which South Korean guest workers in Germany since the 1960s and the hundreds of German companies invested in South Korea have made meaningful contributions. Today around 40,000 Koreans, including the descendants of South Korean guest workers, live in Germany. By total trade volume, South Korea is Germany’s third most important trading partner in Asia, and Germany is South Korea’s most important trading partner in Europe. In addition to official visits by chancellors and presidents (Angela Merkel in 2010 and Frank-Walter Steinmeier in 2018 to South Korea; Park Geun-hye in 2014 and Moon Jae-in in 2017 to Germany), heads of state and ministers of both countries have regular encounters and cooperate within the G20