UK - Republic of Korea Joint Statement: November 2023
The UK and South Korea issue a joint statement to launch negotiations on an ungraded free trade agreement.
The RT. Hon. Kemi Badenoch MP, Secretary of State for the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (United Kingdom), and Bang, Moon Kyu, Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) for the Republic of Korea, met in London on 22 November 2023 as part of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s State Visit to the United Kingdom. Following the meeting, they issued the below joint statement:
As our nations celebrate 140 years of diplomatic relations, and as His Majesty King Charles III welcomes President Yoon Suk Yeol to the United Kingdom for the first Korean State Visit in a decade, we are very pleased to announce the launch of negotiations to upgrade the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom.
Upgrading and future-proofing our FTA will further deepen our economic ties and support our innovative economies over the years to come. Negotiations will build on and improve the existing agreement, further promoting trade and investment between two like-minded nations and ensuring our growing trade and investment relationship continues to thrive.
Following productive discussions to extend temporary arrangements regarding cumulation and direct transport for two years and reflecting the changing global economic and trade landscape, we will work to agree a new Rules of Origin chapter which reduces the costs businesses face when exporting and recognises our existing and future supply chains, enabling United Kingdom and Korean industries to take full advantage of the FTA.
We will work towards a modern and comprehensive Digital chapter, which will future proof our trade relationship by including elements that facilitate more efficient and secure trade through the use of digital technologies, ensure free and trusted cross border data flows, avoid unjustified data localisation requirements and prohibit customs duties on electronic transmissions, including content transmitted electronically. Recognising the growing importance of services and investment as part of our bilateral trading relationship, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea will also work to agree modernisations to existing commitments in these areas.
The United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea are also committed to deepening and broadening our cooperation across a range of emerging trade agendas. We will work towards content related to supply chains which will facilitate further integration between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea’s economies and ensure customs procedures are as predictable and streamlined as possible. Cooperation on Energy will seek to help deliver against our respective climate change ambitions. Support for small and medium-sized businesses will aim to maximise the utility of our new agreement. We also believe that strengthening cooperation and collaboration between the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom in the bioeconomy sector will benefit both parties’ economies. The value of our bilateral trade has more than doubled in the past 15 years and mutual investment relations have deepened in a variety of fields, including finance, insurance, and energy. We believe a strong, modernised trade agreement can further reinforce our relationship.
We have instructed our teams to hold the first round of negotiations in Seoul, commencing 22 January 2024, and further rounds of negotiations are to occur regularly thereafter. This will build on the series of positive and constructive conversations that have already been held between negotiation teams. It will also take place in the context of strong and collaborative relationship, including a shared understanding of the value of further trade integration in the region, and a commitment to share mutually beneficial experience – such as the United Kingdom’s experience of applying to join CPTPP. We look forward to significant and rapid progress, with a shared ambition to conclude this upgraded agreement in a timely fashion, building upon the strong baseline already agreed in the existing FTA.
Signed in London on 22 November 2023