On December 16 (Tuesday), Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun met with a high-level delegation from the United Kingdom during its visit to Korea to attend a Korea-UK High-Level Forum. The delegation was composed of political and business leaders including Members of Parliament (MPs) Liam Byrne, Chi Onwurah and Catherine West. The two sides exchanged views on ways to promote the ROK-UK Global Strategic Partnership as well as regional and global issues.

※ The UK delegation included MP Catherine West (former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Indo-Pacific at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office); MP Liam Byrne; MP Chi Onwurah; CEO of UK Music Tom Kiehl; and Vice President of Operations Planning at Rolls-Royce Piera Carugno.

Both sides welcomed the recent agreement to upgrade the ROK-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and expressed their hope that this would help further expand trade and investment between the two countries. Minister Cho appreciated the UK’s efforts to strengthen cooperation with Asian countries including Korea, in the post-Brexit era. The UK delegates proposed closer collaboration in addressing shared challenges, such as climate change, and investment and the establishment of norms in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). The two sides shared the view that their two countries should further deepen cooperation across various sectors, including trade, investment, security, the defense industry, and cultural exchanges, based on their Global Strategic Partnership.