This process has continued, with former dissident Kim Dae-jung becoming in December 1997 the first opposition candidate to win the Presidency. In December 1998, the Commission adopted a Communication to the Council and Parliament on future EU-ROK relations. The Council adopted Conclusions broadly endorsing the Commission s analysis on 19 July 1999. The Framework Agreement and its attached Political declaration were signed in October 1996. It is a mixed agreement with both the participation of the European Commission and the Member States on the side of the European Union.
All parties have to ratify the agreement individually before it enters into force.
The ratification and conclusion procedures have now been completed. The Council adopted on the 19 March 2001 the Decision to conclude the Framework Agreement which came into force on the 1 st April 2001. The Agreement commits the parties to work towards fostering growth of two way trade and investment and encouraging broadly-based cooperation initiatives including in the fields of justice and home affairs, science and technology, and culture. Although not mentioned specifically in the Agreement, transport, education, and financial issues now seem more relevant for bilateral dialogue than they did earlier and the evolutionary clause of the Agreement allows for these to be added. Through its attached Political Declaration, it aims at intensifying the political dialogue between the two sides.