Officials from the European Commission and South Korea issued a joint statement Monday announcing efforts "to further strengthen cooperations" between the two regions around data flows and data protection. Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, together with Korea Communications Commission Chairman Lee Hyo-seong and Korea Internet & Security Agency Vice President Jeong Hyun-cheol, said they have, in recent months, "significantly strengthened the mutual understanding of the EU and Korean data protection systems" and "expressed their readiness to enhance cooperation in promoting strong data protection standards, both bilaterally and at multilateral level." South Korea has agreed to join Convention 108 as an observer, with the potential for future inclusion as a full partner. Both sides also agreed that recent privacy reforms in each region "offers new opportunities to further facilitate data exchanges, including through an adequacy finding," and they agreed to "intensify" such efforts. 
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