1. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Tae-ho met with Secretary of State for International Trade of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Liam Fox on October 4, during which the two sides exchanged views on matters of mutual interest, including such bilateral issues as the post-Brexit Republic of Korea-UK relations and global economic issues.

2. The two sides drew a common understanding that regardless of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU (Brexit), the ROK and the UK should continue to step up bilateral economic cooperation; and agreed to consult closely with each other to ensure a post-Brexit continuity of the economic and trade ties between the two countries.

° In particular, Secretary of State Fox, explaining the direction of the UK’s post-Brexit international trade policy, expressed the country’s commitment to strengthening economic cooperation in diverse sectors with the ROK, its main cooperative partner in East Asia.

° In response, Vice Minister Lee suggested that the governments of the two countries double their efforts to continuously step up substantive bilateral cooperation even after Brexit.

3. The two sides exchanged views on rapidly changing economic and trade conditions of the global community, including the growing tide of trade protectionism; and agreed to work together to advance the trade order in a rules-based, free and fair way.

* unofficial translation