1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold the signing ceremony for “the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) on the Establishment of a Senior Economic Dialogue” in Seoul on September 30 as part of the efforts to expand the institutional foundation for increasing and strengthening economic cooperation between the two countries.

° The MOU will be signed by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Taeho and Minister for Asia and the Pacific of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office Heather Wheeler.

2. The signing of the ROK-UK MOU on the Establishment of a Senior Economic Dialogue comes after the adoption on August 21 of an ROK-UK Joint Statement (the purpose of which is to continue to strengthen post-Brexit bilateral cooperation) and the formal signing on August 22 of an ROK-UK FTA (the purpose of which is to ensure stability in the post-Brexit trade relations). It is expected to serve as an opportunity to widely stress the importance of the bilateral economic cooperation as well as their commitment to continued cooperation.

3. The ROK and the UK will set up the Senior Economic Dialogue as an institutional framework for further enhancing their existing cooperative ties and thereby creating new opportunities for economic cooperation in a mutually beneficial way in response to challenges triggered by changes in the international environment. The Dialogue will extensively cover various agenda items, including bilateral economic cooperation, the exploration of business opportunities, multilateral cooperation, and regional issues.

° In particular, under the MOU, with regard to bilateral economic cooperation and the exploration of business opportunities, the two sides plan to seek stronger cooperation in such areas as information and communications technology (ICT), research and development, climate change and environment, energy, finance, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and startups.

4. After the signing ceremony, the Vice Minister and the Minister for Asia and the Pacific of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office will have a working luncheon, during which they will discuss the progress in bilateral economic cooperation, ways to operate the Senior Economic Dialogue and the timing of the next meeting, and will share outlooks regarding Brexit and the progress in the preparations.

5. Using the ROK-UK Senior Economic Dialogue as a platform to discuss ways for strengthening bilateral economic cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will further enhance the bilateral cooperative ties and reinforce the foundation for shared prosperity.