[Webinar] Global, Pivotal Partners: Europe-Korea Relations in the 21st Century

June 26, 2023 — The European Union and South Korea mark sixty years of diplomatic relations in 2023, with Seoul's relationships with both Brussels and the European capitals at their apogee. From economics to security and culture, South Korea and Europe cooperate in a range of areas critical for the preservation and advancement of the rules-based international order. That said, challenges do exist, such as adaptation to global economic shifts, dealing with revisionist states, and climate change. To address these issues and more, the Asia Society Korea invites you to a conversation with EU Ambassador to Korea H.E. Maria Castillo-Fernandez, Dutch Ambassador to Korea H.E. Joanne Doornewaard, and Swedish Ambassador to Korea H.E. Daniel Wolvén.

Mason Richey (Moderator)

Mason Richey is a senior contributing writer to Asia Society Korea and an associate professor of international politics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (Seoul, South Korea). Dr. Richey has also held positions as a POSCO Visiting Research Fellow at the East-West Center (Honolulu, HI) and a DAAD Scholar at the University of Potsdam.

His research focuses on U.S. and European foreign and security policy as applied to the Asia-Pacific. Recent scholarly articles have appeared (inter alia) in Pacific Review, Asian Security, Global Governance, and Foreign Policy Analysis. Shorter analyses and opinion pieces have been published in War on the Rocks, Le Monde, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, and Forbes, among other venues.

Dr. Richey received his Ph.D. from Binghamton University, New York.

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H.E. Maria Castillo-Fernandez

H.E. Maria Castillo-Fernandez is a European diplomat/official of Spanish nationality, now Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Korea. Prior to this position, she was EU Ambassador in Malaysia from 2016-2020, Head of Division for India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh since September 2012 at the European External Action Service of the European Union, in charge of managing and coordinating the European Union's overall relations with these South Asian countries as well as with the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

From 2008 to September 2012, she posted in Hong Kong, representing the EU as the Head of the Office of the European Union accredited to Hong Kong and Macao SARs. From September 2005-2008, she worked as Deputy Head of Mission at the EU Delegation in Seoul (Republic of Korea) in charge of EU political relations and economic cooperation activities with the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Prior to this, Ms. Castillo was responsible, in Brussels, for the European Commission’s overall relations with the Korean Peninsula, including both Republic of Korea and DPRK (2000-2005).

An extensive career in the European Commission also included posting as: Desk Officer for relations with Russia (1996-2000) in charge of implementing the European political and economic relations with Russia; Legal Advisor and manager of research programmes in the field of exchanges and mobility of EU scientists and research networks (1990-1996); Legal Advisor in charge of thematic human rights issues, with publications on the right of children under European law in the European Law Review (1989). Ms. Castillo completed postgraduate studies in European law, economics, and international relations with two masters, one at the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium) and a second at the Institute of European Studies (Strasbourg, France) following a degree in law from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain).

Her mother tongue is Spanish but she is fluent in English and French, with good knowledge of German and Dutch and passive knowledge of Portuguese and Italian. She has some notions of Mandarin and Korean from her postings abroad.

Ms. Castillo was decorated with the Cruz de Oficial de la Orden del Mérito Civil by the King of Spain on 24 June 2008 for strengthening relations between the EU and the Korean Peninsula.

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H.E. Joanne Doornewaard

H.E. Joanne Doornewaard was appointed as the Ambassador of the Netherlands to South Korea in 2019.

Her previous positions include: Ambassador of Netherlands to Sri Lanka (2015-2018); Deputy Director of the Communications Department (2011-2015); Project Leader of International Energy Affairs at the Ministry of Economic Affairs (2008-2011); Deputy Head of Economic Department in Warsaw (2003-2008); Head of Politics, Press and Culture in Mexico City (1999-2003).

Ambassador Doornewaard joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993. She received education from the Agricultural University of Wageningen (1991); Amsterdam Academy of Architecture (1985); and National Higher School for Garden and Landscape Planning (1984).

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H.E. Daniel Wolvén

H.E. Daniel Wolvén is a career diplomat with nearly twenty years of experience in the Swedish Diplomatic Service. He most recently served as Head of the Office for Foreign Affairs and the Security Policy Council at the Swedish Prime Minister’s Office, in which capacity he advised the Swedish Prime Minister on a wide range of foreign and security policy issues.

He has occupied several different positions both in Stockholm and abroad, including in the Swedish Foreign Ministry’s United Nations and Africa Departments, as well as at the Swedish Embassies in Kinshasa, Paris, and New Delhi.

In 2001, he received a Master of Arts in Political Science at the University of Lund, Sweden. Prior to that, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts at Columbia University, New York.

He speaks native Swedish and is fluent in spoken and written English and French.

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