1. Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Kim Gunn met with Director General for Political Affairs Richard Moore at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom, who visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the afternoon of February 19, and discussed the development of the Republic of Korea-UK relations; environmental cooperation, including the P4G Summit; and situations on the Korean Peninsula and in major regions, including Northeast Asia and the Middle East.

2. The two sides noted with appreciation that the ROK and the UK, as important cooperation partners sharing universal values, have been closely cooperating in a range of areas, including politics, economy and security, and hoped to maintain the momentum for cooperation through robust high-level exchanges between the two countries this year.

3. Deputy Minister Kim stressed the importance of the P4G Summit to be held in Seoul from June 29 to 30 this year, and asked for the participation of high-level delegates from the UK.

o Deputy Minister Kim said that with ten years left until the 2030 target for implementing the Paris Agreement and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the P4G Summit comes at an important time in which concrete results should be reaped, and explained that the ROK will make preparations for the Summit to serve as a milestone for the next decade of decarbonization.

o Director General Moore appreciated the ROK’s efforts to respond to climate change, emphasized the importance of the ROK’s leadership in ensuring the success of the 26^th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in the UK in November this year, and said that the UK would consider sending high-level delegates to the P4G Summit.

4. In addition, the two sides shared assessments of the current state of the ROK-Japan relations and the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and agreed to continue collaboration between the ROK and the UK to achieve denuclearization and establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula. They also exchanged views on situations in the Middle East and other major regions.

5. Director General Moore’s visit to the ROK served as a meaningful opportunity to reaffirm the two sides’ common position on advancing close and cooperative relations between the two countries even after Brexit, as well as their commitment to environmental cooperation, including the P4G Summit, and to exchange views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, the ROK-Japan relations, and the situation in the Middle East.