Final Comments by the Rapporteur

KOREA-EU CONFERENCE

SUWON, REPUBLIC OF KOREA

1-2 October 2002

edited by

Louis Lemkow & Song, Tae-ho

FUNDACIO U"B Universitat Autonorna de Barcelona

FINAL COMMENTS BY THE RAPPORTEUR

Prof. Sean Golden

Director, Centre for International and Intercultural Studies, Autonomous University of Barcelona

I would like to begin by thanking the organisers and the sponsors of this first Korea-EU Conference, especially Mr Song Tae-ho, President of the Kyonggi Cultural Foundation and Mr Louis Lemkow of the Fundaci6 UAB. I would also like to thank all of the speakers, and the audience, for their participation in this conference. It is a privilege for me to participate in this event.

A brief review of the major themes discussed during this conference cannot do justice to the wealth of detailed observation and arguments presented. As a result, these final comments will not attempt to make a detailed summary of each paper and discussion, but rather will offer my personal overview of the most relevant general themes that have emerged.

To set the stage for my comments, I would like to start off with an anecdote which tells us something about the problems of cultural preconceptions and expectations in the context of Korean-EU cultural exchanges. A couple of years ago I paid a visit to the campus of one of Korea's national universities, together with a representative of the Catalan regional government and another professor from Barcelona. The Korean Dean of the foreign languages Faculty, who spoke excellent Spanish, gave us a guided tour of the campus. (None of us spoke Korean.) As we were crossing the university's playing fields, the Catalan government representative told us that he was surprised to see students

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practising karate. He was even more surprised to learn that the Dean had also practised karate as a student. Both the Catalan government representative and the Korean Dean were surprised once again when I explained that I too had practised karate. As the Dean and I compared the styles of karate we had practised (Tae Kwon Do Chun Do Kwon, in my case), and talked about the different kinds of endurance exercises we had to do whi le we trained. the Catalan government representative could hardly believe what he was hearing: two university professors. one fro m Korea. the other fro m Europe, talking in an animated way about practising the martial arts. Later that even ing he told the rest of our visiting delegation what he had seen. He was still surprised. At this stage I [Old him that if he could nOt understand the role that practising the manial ans could have in an intellectual or academic context, he would never be able to understand how Korea had been able to withstand so much hardship and modernise her economy so rapidly.

In Barcelona, I teach Taijiquan to my students of Chinese philosophy. I believe that cross-cultural understanding requires both cultures to move beyond thei r own cultural horiwns, and to enter the cultural horizons of other cultures. in order to bring about mutual understanding, and through mutual unders tanding. to bring about mutual trust.

The official themes of this con ference were: The importance of the EURO 1. The role of the regions 2. Korean investment in Europe and European investment in Korea 3. The process of European integration 4. Global isation and international society following 11 September 5. Scientific and cultural exchange. After reading all of the papers and listening to al l of the discussions, 1

think that we can group the mOSt relevant general themes that have emerged in three large blocks:

1. More abstract philosophical and ideological considerations.

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2. Considerations that pertain specifically to the context of the EU. 3. Cross-cultural Korea-EU relationships in rhe fields of culture and

commerce.

1. Philosophical & Ideological Considerations

I think that the speakers who contributed most to this first block were Sohn Hak· kyu and Delfin Colome. Narcfs Serra and Enrique Baron. Paolo Costa. Jane Mayes and Cho Myung-rae.

Nards Serra presented an overview of changing world politics, which distinguished between premodern, modern and postmodern visions of the role of the Nation-Stare and questions of sovereignty. The modern notion of a nation-state chat jealously defends its own sovereignty was contrasted with the developing postmodern notion of a community of nations in which cooperation among states for the purpose of mutual benefi t requires individual states de cede part of their sovereignty. T he EU is a good working example of this process, and could serve as a model for a future East Asian Cooperation area. In such a scheme of worldwide cooperation, questions of sovereignty would have to be rreated at various levels: supranational, national and infranational. Some decisions must be made among nations, others must be made at a nadonallevel. and still more must be made at the regional or local level. Part of the difficul ty of developing new procedures for such decision­making processes is the lack of fu lly developed institutions fo r supranational decision-making. In the context of the EU, this problem is related [Q the concept of "subsidiarity": that decisions should be made as closely as possible to the level of the people most affected by the decisions.

In this COntext the role of "regionalisation" becomes very important. Even so, the term regionalisation itself can become ambiguous. In the COntext of the EU, regionalisation can refer to the integration of various

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nation-states in the creation of the EU, but it can also refer to the growing imporcance of the role that the regions within European nation-states will play in the constructio n of a united Europe. In that sense, the presence of represenratives of regions such as Catalonia, Scotland or Venice at this conference is just as imporcanr as the presence of representatives of the European Commission or the European Parliament or individual nation-stares. In the case of East As ia, regionalisation refers more to the creation of an area of free trade or cooperation among sovereign states, and less to the role of specific regions wi thin rhose states (for the time being at any rate).

The evolution of supranational institutions is obviously taking place wi thin a context of globalisation and global capitalism. The globalisation of communications, and of the movement of peoples and capital, is evolving wi thout clearly defined supranational institutions or procedures for decision-making at a supranational level. In this sense the evolution of the EU can serve as a laboratory for fu ture models of international cooperation. A globalisa rion driven by global capitalism is currently generating serious social p roblems. The "Washington Consensus" that applies neoliberal economic pol icies to the creation of a world market has underestimated the importance of regulation and government control of the excesses to which global capitalism can lead. This model does not include an adequate appreciation of social cOSts or public goods in its methods of economic analys is, and the failure to facror in a realistic appraisal of the social and environmemal COStS of unregulated global capi talism is a real threat for a futu re in which those costs, and the deficits they will have generated, will become much more apparent and critical.

The Washington Consensus predicated the diminishing role of national governments in the process of globalisation, but failed to

fo resee the problem posed by the lack of efficienr national governmenrs in controlling the excesses of the process. All of the conference speakers defended a world order based on democracy and the free market, but

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some doubts have been raised about the extent to which existing supranational institutions really are democratic, and to what extent the existing global market really is free. Supranational institutions do exist: the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, The International Monetary Fund. the World Bank. etc. The decisions made by these supranational institutions can have .a major impact on individual nation-states and their peoples, bur there is very little democratic control of these instirurions by the people who are directly affected by their decisions. Despite their tremendous political impact. there is almost no democratic control. This same debate occurs with in the EU, whose democratically elected Parliament has little control over the decisions made by the European Commission, which is not directly elected. We could say that the EU funct ions like a social democratic technocracy. This would be a postmodern form of the concept of "enlightened despotism" that was developed by the great thinkers of the Enlightenment in Europe. Ironically, this concept of enlightened despotism and of a civil se rvice of technocrats who would do their best to serve the people has its origins in nco-Confucianism: European intellectuals like Voltaire were inspired by the descriptions of Chinese government by mandarins who were chosen by a public examination system that they received from Jesuit missionaries who lived in China. I f we look to the roots of the philosophical and ideological underpinnings of the EU decision-making process, we find ourselves very dose to the origins of the philosophical and ideological decision­making processes of East Asia.

Multi lareralism is another essential concept of any new supranational world order. The EU and any future East Asian trade bloc could act as counterweights to (he unilateral ism practised by the United Stares. Both [he EU and Korea can and should influence decisions made by the WIO at the Doha trade ta1ks, for instance. A new worldwide system of checks and balances. based on a multipolar balance of power is needed in order to avoid such unilateralism.

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A complex picture emerges out of me various papers and discussions related (0 chis firsr block of philosophical and ideological considerarions. Many questions have been raised, and many suggestions have been made. but no conclusions have been drawn. What should be the role of institutions in this new world order? At what level should mese institutions operate? We have heard references ro supranational , worldwide institutions, (0 continent-wide institutions like the EU or a future East Asia Cooperation area, to the role of national governments, (0 the role of regional governments and to the role of municipal governments. Formulas that will guarantee a balanced. and therefore compensated development must be worked out in order (0 avoid serious imbalances between cities and rural areas, or between regions within the samc nation-state, or bc[V{cen nations in an imernational context. We need interregional solidarity at both the supranational and infranational levels, Several speakers have given examples of important decisions that have been made for political rather than purely economical reasons. Two principles have emerged, onc related to the balance between efficiency and equity in terms of economic developmem. the other related to the importance of sustainable development. Should the shareholder be the only motor of global capiral ism? Or should ir be rhe srakeholder? Some examples of important political decisions that have been made, even though they comradict principles of purely economic efficiency that were mentioned include: the creation of the EURO, C hina's decision nor to devaluate its currency during the Asian financial crisis. the decisions of Seoul and Barcelona (0 host the Olympic Games, or the decision of Korea to co-host che 2002 World Cup.

2. Developments in the EU

I think that the speakers who contributed most to this second block were Manfred Wegner. Kim Cae-one, Jacck SaryuS2-Wolski, Seamus

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Gillespie and Yoon Keon-deok. Three matters emerged as having special relevance for Korea-EU relations: the EURO, EU enlargement, and models of re unification.

The creation of Euroland has positive implications for Korea because it simplifies trade right across the EU, eliminating transaction costs due to multiple foreign currency transactions, and making pricing structures transparent. At another level, the process of monetary convergence that created the EURO can serve as a laboratory experiment for considerations of how to create a future Asian currency block.

The addition of 10 new member states of the EU in the near future also has important implications for Korea. On the one hand, it could divert EU investment away from Korea and toward the new EU members. On the other hand, it will also open up new markets for Kotea, because the new member stares will increase their purchasing power and the same rules and costs will apply throughout EU territory.

At the same time, the integration of nation-states from Middle and Eastern Europe will bring the EU right up to the borders of the Commonwealth oflndependent States (the former Soviet Union). This will also represent an opportunity for Korea. The reopening of railway lines connecting bmh North and South Korea to trans-Eurasian cargo routes could become very important for future foreign trade. Korea could benefir from the facr rhat the EU will border on the CIS, jUst as the EU could benefit from the fact that Korea borders on China.

Mention has also been made of the subject of reunification. One dear example of reunification has already occurred within the framework of the EU: the reunification of East and West Germany. The case of the (Wo Koreas is not identical, but it is also a case of the partition of a nation-state for political and ideological reasons. Germany is not the only case study of reunification that the EU can provide however. Ireland is another. I am convinced that the peace process that is under way in the North of Ireland would not have made the progress it has (even though it is a process not yet fully consolidated) unless both the

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United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland had experienced the benefi ts of belonging [0 a supranational entity like the EU. Both have been able to modify their concepts of national sovereignty [0 the extent of considering ahrenative concepts such as joint sovereignty. One of the future member states of the EU is Cyprus, another case of a country divided, whose reunification could come about as the resuh of interregional integration and cooperation. The growth of supranational institutions that benefi t all member-states can lead to an erosion of the authority of the national states that is more than compensated by the mutual benefit. This can lead to a weakening of the traditional concept of sovereignty, and of nationalistic conflicts related co a traditional concept of sovereignty that is based on an essentialist vision of the nation-state and its people. In a supranational setting that tends to dilute concepts of national sovereignty, the creat ion of new narion-states could become anachronistic. O n [he other hand, the development of a supranational enti ty on the basis of its infranational regions could respond wel l co [he need to resolve historical confli cts. The disappearance of narional borders renders nationalist conflicts obsolete. For this reason the debate under way in the EU about the role of the regions or the municipalities in rhe construction of Europe, as opposed [0 the role of the states, is a very important debate.

3. Korea-EU relationships: culture and commerce

I think that the speakers who contributed most to th is third block. which was clearly the largest block. were Antoni Negre. Kim Choong­soo, Wondy Alexander, John Walker, Kim Heong-chong, Kim Hee­kyeun, Dokko Yoon, Shin Hyun-tac. Andrcw Hamnett. Ra C hoon-hee. Carme Miralles, Lee Won-yong, Gaspar Espuiia. Yoon Dae-soon. Jean­Eric Sundgren, Kim Hyoo-jong, Choi Dal-yong, Kim Yong-joo, Park Jo-won and C ho Kab-dong.

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Both culture and commerce contributed w this block in very importam ways. Or Sohn Hak-kyu raised the question of vaJues and culture when he inaugurated the conference and defended the harmonious coexistence of differem cuhures, and Ambassador Delfin Colome stressed the importance of dialogue between cultures in his opening remarks. Samuel Humingwn's proposed "dash of civilisations" represents a bleak vision of cultural multilateralism in a globalised world. All of the speakers at this conference presented more optimistic visions.

Although it was not a major point of discussion, the question of "Asian values" did arise, generally from a positive point of view: the values of the Korean people are a major facwr in favour of foreign trade and investment, for instance. Like the subject of regionalisation , the subject of Asian values has been neared diffe rently in differem contexts. k a professor a C hinese thought, I have always felt rhar there are some very important Asian val ues that could serve as a healthy antidote to some of the more negative aspects of European val ues, for instance. On the other hand, there are many American and European thinkers who consider ''Asian values" to he an impediment to the process of global capitalism. The question would be, then, do k ian values represent a positive counterweight to European values? O r do they represent a defensive shield againsr the introduction of European values? (Or both , depending on the context?) The En lightenment ideals developed in Europe went hand in hand with the development of industrial capitalism and European imperialism. Can Asian values act as a corrective to the negative tendencies inherent in these Enlightenment values? Or does the defence of k ian values serve to avoid introducing fundamemal political and social reforms? This is an open debate that cannot be divorced from the context of globalisation, pos.~ ible new world orders, conflicting civilisations and the development of new institutions to accompany new ideologies. Reference has been made to the existence of a "common ground" between Europe's Enlightenment heritage and k ia's values. Finding this common ground will be as

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important for the EU as for Korea, and the Asian input (0 the definition or construction of a such a common ground wi ll be as important as wi ll be the Asian input to the Doha talks on world trade.

Culture has been discussed in many ways: as a basis for mutual understanding, as a projection of ones national or regional identity, as an industry in and of itself. The terminology for this field of studies is quite d iverse: multiculturalism, cross-cultural studies, imerculturalism. etc. Ethnocentricity can be a serious impediment to the discovery of universal values or common grounds. The role of the university in this context is very important. The university can work hand in hand with civil society and government in promoting foreign trade and mutual understanding. This is what I call the "Negre Doctrine", in honour of Mr Antoni Negre. who always includes university professors and government represematives in the business delegations he leads (0

Korea. We can state a working hypothesis, supported by some studies that have already been made. that states mat there is a direct relation between the percentage of university students who do international studies and the level of foreign trade that a country has with the regions they study. Business and government need imercultural mediators in order (0 reduce me transaction COStS of cross-cultural transfer. The university, as a seat of research, also plays a major role in the transfer of technology, and we have seen here in this conference several examples of close cooperation and coordination between universities and regional governments in the promotion of trade.

This conference itself is the result of sciemific and cultural exchange between the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and several Korean universities. It is also an example of the relationship between the Catalan and Korean business sectors, and a direct province-co-province relationship between Kyonggi Do and Catalonia. The motor of these relationships has been civil society and many speakers have stressed the role of civil society in filling the gaps left by obsolete institutions or by the lack of new institutions.

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This conference is also the result of the Asian Diaspora. because one of (he mOtors behind the o rganisation of the conference is Mr Yu Suk­man, who lives in Barcelona .and works very energetically to promote bOlll (;ullural and business rdatiom with Korea. The importance of dIe Asian Diaspora for EV-Asia trade can not be emphasised enough, yet the EV irselfhas not yet fully awakened to this fact. The university can play an important role here as well. Scientific exchanges and the exchanges of students and professors help to create the nelVv'orks of personal contacts w hich are very necessary for promoting mutual understanding and trade.

One of the mOSt important economic aspects discussed has had to do with the concept of scale. Should foreign trade and fore ign investment be based on large multi national firms or on Small-and-Medium-Sized Emerprises (SMEs)? What is the role ofrhe public secto r in promoting foreign trade and investment? W hat is tile role of the private sector? Does government help or hinder? (We are back to the philosophical questio ns of regulation versus de regulation, shareholde r ve rsus stakeholder.) Trade would seem to take place on all of the same levels as rhe new world order: city to city, region to region, nadon to nation, free trade area to free trade area.

The economic sectors involved are also varied: import-export trade, foreign investment and tourism. There has been a great deal of discussion about how to create an attractive environment for investment and trade, in ways that would be com patible with sustainable development while still being compeddve.

I would like to close my commems by referring to role of tou rism in the economic, cultu ral and political spheres. Culture itself is often the very basis of tourism, and the promotion of tourism must take into consideration the cultural values of tourist locations. It must also protect them. But tourism and tile development of a tourist industry can also play a very important role in bringing about social change. This was rhe case in Spain during the 1960's, for instance, when the

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development of a touriSt industry based on Spain's climate and beaches exposed a sociery that hade been submitted to decades of a Fascist dictatorship to new values from democratic countries through exposure to the tourists who came to Spain from other countries. I do not think that there can be any doubt that the development of tourism in Spain helped to bring about the democratic transition thar followed the death of Franco in 1975. In this context, proposals to develop tourism in North Korea rake on a new meaning, and we can see how, finally, the philosophical and ideological considerations with which I began rhese final comments cannot be divorced from the culmrai and economic considerations, which formed [he conference's largest bloc.

Thank you for your ancntion.

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