The Prime Minister welcomed President Yoon of the Republic of Korea and a delegation of his ministers to Downing Street this afternoon, as part of the President's State Visit to the UK. The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister, Home Secretary, Business and Trade Secretary, Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary, and the Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary.
The Prime Minister and President Yoon welcomed the agreement of the Downing Street Accord, which the Prime Minister described as a ground breaking symbol of the strength of the relationship between the UK and South Korea. The leaders agreed that the Accord will cement and enhance our relationship in crucial areas including security, technology and trade.
The Prime Minister stressed the indivisibility of UK and Korean security, and the leaders welcomed steps to increase our military cooperation and elevate our defence relationship through today's agreement. The Prime Minister condemned North Korea's launch of ballistic missile technology yesterday. Both leaders expressed their concern about the reported support that Russia is providing to the DPRK. The Prime Minister stressed that South Korea can be assured of UK solidarity in the face of daily threats.
Both leaders welcomed the growing cooperation between our countries to develop and harness the technologies of the future. President Yoon praised the UK's successful AI Safety Summit earlier this month, and the leaders looked ahead to the next iteration which will be co-hosted by both our countries. The leaders also welcomed renewed cooperation between the UK and South Korea on clean energy, particularly nuclear and wind.
Today the UK and South Korea have launched negotiations on a modernised Free Trade Agreement, building on our existing £10 billion trade relationship. The Prime Minister and President Yoon hailed the strong economic links between our countries, as evidenced by the £21 billion in new investment by South Korean companies into the UK this week.
The leaders discussed the strong cooperation between the UK and South Korea on foreign policy issues. They agreed that our countries share the same outlook and values on global affairs - something that can be seen in the broad alignment of our approaches to China, the situation in the Middle East and Russia's illegal war in Ukraine. The Prime Minister looked forward to working with South Korea through their membership of the UN Security Council from January.
Finally, the Prime Minister reiterated his thanks to President Yoon for making this State Visit to the UK. He paid tribute to Korea's journey to become a global, pivotal state over the 140 years of diplomatic friendship between our countries. The Prime Minister underscored his pride that the UK is Korea's closest partner in Europe.
