Korea-UK Hold 1st FTA Improvement Negotiation... Digital and Supply Chain to be Reflected

Over 50 Members from Both Countries' Delegations Participate

The first official negotiations to improve the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Korea and the United Kingdom will be held in Seoul from the 23rd to the 25th.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 23rd that the negotiation delegations from both countries, consisting of about 50 members, will participate, with Korea’s Ahn Chang-yong, Director General for Free Trade Agreements, and the UK’s Adam Penn, Deputy Director General of the Department for Business and Trade, serving as chief representatives, respectively.

The existing Korea-UK FTA was the first FTA signed with an Asian country after the UK pursued its withdrawal from the European Union (signed in 2019 and effective from January 2021). According to the Ministry, while the agreement has been evaluated as having early resolved uncertainties in the business environment between the two countries and driven the development of economic cooperation, the agreement text is mainly focused on market opening in goods and services, highlighting the need to reflect the latest global trade norms such as digital trade and supply chains.

In November last year, during President Yoon Suk-yeol’s state visit to the UK, both countries declared the commencement of FTA improvement negotiations, and after detailed consultations on negotiation areas, they have now begun full-scale negotiations starting with the first round.

In preparing for this improvement negotiation, both countries agreed to pursue the establishment of a comprehensive and future-oriented strategic trade relationship by discussing the introduction of new trade norms across various fields such as digital trade, supply chains, clean energy, and the bioeconomy, not limited to updating the existing FTA agreement areas.

At the opening ceremony of the first negotiation, Jeong In-kyo, Director General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "The global trade order is changing more rapidly than ever, with the spread of protectionism worldwide and the swift reorganization of global supply chains," and added, "While responding together to these internal and external uncertainties, please prioritize creating a trade environment where companies from both countries can conduct business with peace of mind during the negotiations."