Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina (R) and Catherine West, parliamentary under secretary of state for the Indo-Pacific at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in Britain, shake hands during the Senior Economic Dialogue held in Seoul on Aug. 18, 2025, in this photo provided by the foreign ministry. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Senior diplomats of South Korea and Britain on Monday agreed to speed up negotiations to upgrade a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) as part of efforts to expand trade and investment, the foreign ministry said.
Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina and Catherine West, parliamentary under secretary of state for the Indo-Pacific at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in Britain, reached the agreement during the Senior Economic Dialogue.
During the talks, the two sides explored ways to expand cooperation in areas such as trading and investment, economic security, artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum technology, the defense industry and energy, the ministry said in a release.
They also agreed to expedite talks to revise the FTA in line with the agreements made by President Lee Jae Myung and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Canada in June.
Last month, trade delegations of the two countries held the fifth round of negotiations on easing regulations on product origins and introduced new rules in the areas of supply chains and digital trade.
In addition, Seoul officials asked for the British government to “favorably review” its safeguard measures against homegrown steel products and an electric vehicle subsidy scheme to ensure fair competition for Korean companies, it noted.
During the two-day stay, West will meet Second Deputy National Security Adviser Lim Woong-soon to discuss regional security and support for Ukraine, and visit the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas and meet North Korean defectors, the British Embassy in Seoul said.
(Yonhap)
