Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Kingdom of Sweden

About Korea

Bilateral Relations Overview

About Korea
Bilateral Relations Overview

1. Political Relations

The Republic of Korea

●Capital: Seoul (Population 9.6 million in March 2025)
●National flag: Taegeukgi
●National flower: Mugunghwa (Rose of Sharon)
●Currency: Korean Won (1 SEK = 144 KRW) (July 2025)
●Official language: Korean (Hangeul)
●Land area: 223,098 km² (South Korea 100,364 km²)
●Climate: Mild with four seasons
●Population: 51,7 million (July 2025)
●Foreign nationals residing in Korea:1.94 million (2023)
●Population growth: 0.07% (2024)
●Political system: democracy with a President elected every 5 years by referendum. Governmental powers are divided into the executive, legislative (National Assembly with a chamber) and judicial Powers.
●President: Lee Jae-myung (Inauguration June 2025)
●Voting rights: Everyone has the right to vote from the age of 18
●Presidential election: every 5 years
●National Assembly election: every 4 years
●Municipal elections: every 4 years

Diplomatic Relations between Korea and Sweden


1951	Sweden sent medical support teams during the Korean War.
1953	Since armistice, Sweden has joined the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission(NNSC).
1959	Korea and Sweden established diplomatic relations.
1963.7	The Korean embassy in Sweden was opened.
1973.7	The Swedish Embassy in Korea was opened.

High Level Exchanges between Korea and Sweden

●From Sweden to Korea


1970s	●Staffan Burenstam-Linder, Minister for Trade (78) ●Leif Leifland, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs (79)
1980s	●Curt Boström, Minister for Communications (83) ●Thage G. Peterson, Minister for Industry (85) ●Lennart Bodström, Minister for Foreign Affairs (85) ●Mats Hellström, Minister for Trade (85) ●H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf (87, unofficial visit) ●Thage G. Peterson, Minister for Industry (88) ●H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf (88, unofficial visit) ●Sten Andersson, Minister for Foreign Affairs (88) ●Georg Andersson, Minister for Communications (89)
1990s	●Anita Gradin, Minister for Trade (90) ●Lena Hjelm-Wallén, Minister for International Development Cooperation (90) ●Roine Carlsson, Minister for Defence (91) ●H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf (91, unofficial visit) ●Anders Björck, Minister for Defence (93) ●Margareta af Ugglas, Minister for Foreign Affairs (93, unofficial visit) ●Carl Bildt, Prime Minister (93) ●Ulf Dinkelspiel, Minister for Trade (93) ●H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf (94, unofficial visit) ●Thage G Peterson, Minister for Defence (96) ●Leif Pagrotsky, Minister for Trade (99)
2000s	●Birgitta Dahl, The Speaker of the Riksdag (00) ●Göran Persson, Prime Minister (00) ●Göran Persson, Prime Minister and Anna Lindh, Minister for Foreign Affairs (00) ●Björn Von Sydow, The Speaker of the Riksdag (06) ●Sten Tolgfors, Minister for Defence (07) ●H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf (08) ●Jan Björklund, Minister for Education (08) ●Carl Bildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs (09)
2010s	●Catharina Elmsäter-Svärd, Minister for Infrastructure (10) ●Ewa Björling, Minister for Trade (11) ●Sten Tolgfors, Minister for Defence (11) ●Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for International Development Cooperation (11) ●Carl Bildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs (12) ●H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf (12) ●Susanne Eberstein, The First Deputy Speaker of the Riksdag (12) ●Ulf Kristersson, Minister for Social Security (13) ●H.R.H. Prince Carl Philip (13) ●Carl Bildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs (13) ●Ewa Björling, Minister for Trade (13) ●H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria and H.R.H. Prince Daniel (15) ●Anna Johansson, Minister for Infrastructure (15) ●Gabriel Wikström, Minister for Health Care, Public Health and Sport (15) ●Anders Knape, Vice President of the SALAR (16) ●H.E. Ann Linde, Minister for EU Affairs and Trade (17) ●H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf (18) ●H.E. Annika Strandhäll, Minister for Health and Social Affairs (18) ●H.E. Margot Wallström, Minister for Foreign Affairs (18) ●H.R.H. Victoria, Crown Princess (18) ●H.E. Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister (19)
2020s	●H.E. Andreas Norlén, Speaker of Riksdag (22) ●H.E. Han Duck-soo, Prime Minister (23)

2. Economic Relations

Overview of Korea's Economy

●GDP: 1.71 trillion USD (2023, World Bank)
●GDP Growth (Real): 1.4% (2023, World Bank)
●GDP per capita: 33,121 USD (2023, World Bank)
●Exports: 683.6 billion USD (2024, KITA)
●Imports: 631.8 billion USD (2024, KITA)
●Economic Scope (By GDP): World's 12th largest economy (2024, IMF)
●Leading Industries : ICT, Electronics, Semiconductor, Automobile, Steel, Petrochemical, etc.
●Since the establishment of the FTA Roadmap in 2003, the Republic of Korea has actively pursued FTAs with its key trading partners. Korea has FTAs in effect with a total of 59 countries (2025, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy).

Economic Relations between Sweden and Korea

Trade

●Korea is now the third largest trading partner of Sweden in Asia, with Sweden-Korea trade amount reaching 3.3 billion USD in 2024.

Volume of Sweden-Korea Trade table
Volume of Sweden-Korea Trade (Unit: USD million)
Year	Export	Import	Total Trade	Trade Balance
2024	1,366	1,942	3,308	-576
2023	1,387	2,099	3,486	-712
2022	1,943	1,417	3,360	-526
*Source: KITA (Korea International Trade Association)

●Major export goods to Sweden : Mobile phone, automobile, automobile components, electric vehicle, wire synthetic resin, etc.
●Major import goods from Sweden : Industrial machine, precision instrument, generator, truck, medical substance, hot rolled plate, telecommunication component, ship component, X-rays, radiation instrument, etc.

Investment

●The total amount of Swedish Investment in Korea is 365 million USD in 2024. Major Investing sectors are industrial machine, medical device, communication, device, large distribution, and automobile components.
●About 120 Swedish companies are in Korea including Volvo, SKF, Ericsson, Envac, Alfa Laval, Autoliv, Scania, Sandvik, IKEA, Gambro, Assa Abloy, ABB, H&M, Atlas Copco, TetraPak, Hitachi Energy, etc.
●The total amount of Korean Investment in Sweden is 531 million USD in 2024.
●About 20 Korean companies are in Sweden including Samsung electronics, LG electronics, KIA motors, Hankook Tire, Hyundai Motor Company, Hyundai Mobis, Korean Air (Cargo), Cheil Worldwide Inc(advertisement), Hyundai Merchant Marine, LX Logistics, HS Ad, EUKOR Car carriers, Dongjin Semichem, Jeil M&S, etc.