초록 열기/닫기 버튼
The three Baltic counties (B3), referring to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, are "old" newly emerged countries that appeared on the map of Europe upon the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991. 2018 is a special year for the relations between Korea and the B3, mainly in three aspects. The first is that the leaders of the B3 all visited Korea in February, 2018, and held summits with President Moon Jae-in during the same period unprecedentedly for the success of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The second is that the leaders of Estonia and Latvia visited Korea for the first time since the diplomatic ties were established in 1991. The third is that an agreement was reached to launch the "B3+1" joint economic committee by 2018, based on a suggestion made by Latvia. Agreeing to launch the B3+1 joint economic committee means institutionalization and deepening of cooperation between Korea and the B3. As stated above, 2018 will be recorded as an important turning point for improving the relations between Korea and the B3. However, the B3 are European countries that are unfamiliar to Koreans. Such unfamiliarity of the B3 stems from geographical remoteness, lack of exchanges in the past, and low levels of exchanges in manpower and resources. However, when the potential and realistic values of the B3 in various fields including politics, economy, diplomacy, society, culture, science, and technology are assessed properly, the B3 countries hold a reasonable level of significance for Korea, which hopes to expand room for its national interest. In this regard, this research aims to propose a series of policy measures to enhance Korea's cooperation with the B3 at multiple levels, while acknowledging the B3, which emerged as new actors in the European political landscape in 1991, as a useful strategic asset for strengthening Korea's national power.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
The Three Baltic Countries, Korea, Foreign Environment, Middle Power Diplomacy, ‘B3+1’ Cooperation
