The United Kingdom and South Korea signed a free trade agreement on Thursday that will allow them to continue trading freely after Britain's departure from the European Union, scheduled for 31 October.
South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee met her British counterpart, Liz Truss, in London to sign this treaty to protect trade between the two countries.
Preparing for the imminent arrival of Brexit, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to carry out on schedule with or without a divorce agreement with Brussels, the UK has so far signed 13 trade agreements.
These take up the provisions of the agreements reached by the European Union with these countries. The one signed with Seoul is the first with an Asian country.
Trade between the United Kingdom and South Korea has increased by about 12 percent annually since the signing of the EU-South Korea free trade agreement in 2011.
In 2018, they represented 14.6 billion pounds, reported the British Ministry of Commerce in a statement.
The automobile industry, technology, renewable energy and ceramic production are some of the main British sectors exporting to South Korea.
The agreement signed "reproduces, as far as possible, the effects of the trade agreement between the EU and South Korea, allowing companies to continue to benefit from preferential conditions," stressed the press release.
In the words of Yoo Myung-hee, the signing of this agreement "will largely dispel Brexit's uncertainties about our long and precious economic partnership".
