9 November 2022

On 1 November 2022 the North Asia Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence (North Asia CAPE) partnered with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to New Zealand to hold an event at Auckland’s Maritime Room to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and South Korea.

The afternoon began with keynote speeches from Minister of State for Trade and Export the Honourable Phil Twyford and Mr Ockchae Yoon, Charge D’Affairs of the Republic of Korea. Looking back on the 60-year relationship, South Korea and New Zealand have succeeded together in service of common goals. Today the relationship is strong and wide ranging. We have a successful free trade agreement, and two-way trade has grown by more than a third since it was signed in 2015 despite the impact of COVID-19.

This was followed by a panel discussion led by key New Zealand and Korean business and academic leaders.
Hyungmin Chun, from Samsung New Zealand
Grant Doull, from Hyundai Motors New Zealand
Carol Ward, from Zespri International
Seung Jin Cho from Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)

The panel discussion highlighted opportunities for businesses to grow steadily despite challenges from COVID restrictions and logistics issues. Many opportunities exist in the future for both economies to transition to carbon neutrality while generating sustainable economic development.