The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation has informed this Tuesday that Spanish exports to South Korea rose a 83.6% in 2014, which has turned this country into the third client of Spain in Asia.
This remarkable increase in sales to Korea is mainly due to the “dynamic effect” that the entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement Between the EU and Korea, has had on the exports, allowing Spain to register a surplus in its trade balance for the first time in more than 20 years, Foreign Affairs explains.
The development of the economic and trade ties between the two countries was one of the issues discussed last night by the First Korean Deputy Minister, Cho Tae-Yong and the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ignacio Ybáñez in a working dinner in Madrid, reported in a press release the department led by José Manuel García- Margallo.
The two leaders has also talked about the increase of Korean tourism to Spain. In 2014, Spain received 167.049 of Korean tourists, a 51% more that in 2013 and the prospects for this year are even better since between January and April, 127.142 Koreans visited the country.
In its meeting, Mr. Cho and Mr. Ybáñez exchanged points of views on various global issues such as counter-terrorism, climate change, development cooperation and United Nation’s reform, including its Security Council.
In this point, Spain and Korea maintain coincident positions as pars of the Uniting Consensus Group, a dozen countries advocating to increase the number of non-permanent members of the Security Council and to eliminate or at least restrict the use of the veto by the five permanent members.
Moreover, Mr. Ybáñez notified his Korean colleague the Spain’s commitment to non-proliferation and disarmament and Spain’s refusal to nuclear and ballistic programs of North Korea, as well as his concern for the human rights situation in that country.
Finally, the two leaders congratulated themselves for the positive evolution of the cultural relations between civil societies as evidenced by the Spain –Korea Tribune and the work one by institutions such as Casa Asia and the Korean Foundation.
