1. In London on December 3, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, together with his UK counterpart Philip Hammond, held the inaugural Ministerial-level Strategic Dialogue between the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom, as agreed between the two countries during President Park Geun-hye’s state visit to the UK in November 2013. The two sides conducted strategic consultation on their bilateral relations; the situations on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia and the EU; and global issues including ways to fight terrorism, the Ebola epidemic and climate change. As a result, the two countries affirmed that they are “genuine natural partners that set and implement agenda together.”

2. Minister Yun brought renewed attention to the bilateral agreement reached during President Park’s state visit to the UK in November 2013 to upgrade their relations to a “broad and creative partnership.” He added with appreciation that measures agreed upon during the state visit have since been moving forward in a swift and efficient manner across the board.

◦ In particular, he highly appreciated the fact that the two countries succeeded in holding their first Ministerial-level Strategic Dialogue and completing the installation of a Korean War memorial in London only a year after the state visit.

◦ The Minister and the Secretary reviewed the progress in the implementation of follow-up measures in the sectors of financial cooperation, nuclear power plant projects, cultural and other creative industries, trade, investment, basic science, energy and IT, and expressed keen interest in boosting cooperation in national defense and the relevant industry.

3. The Minister and the Secretary exchanged in-depth views on the situations on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia and Europe as well as the current ROK-UK relations and their outlook. In particular, the two top diplomats affirmed that their two countries now implement their best-ever cooperation on not only bilateral issues, but also global issues, as demonstrated by their cooperation in evacuating their nationals from Libya and on the fight against the Ebola epidemic.

◦ With regard to issues concerning the Korean Peninsula, Minister Yun explained in detail matters related to North Korea, including the UN resolution on human rights of the country, and took note of the ROK-UK cooperation in the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea.

◦ In terms of such global issues as those concerning ISIL, Iran, climate change, development cooperation, the fight against the Ebola epidemic and the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI), the two sides discussed specific ways to work together on them. Furthermore, they affirmed their strong willingness to cooperate on other matters of mutual concern as well, including those involving the Middle East, Africa and development cooperation, such as by convening the consultative mechanisms regularly between the two foreign ministries.

4. During the bilateral Strategic Dialogue, the Minister and the Secretary signed the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding on Crisis Cooperation. By signing the MOU, the two countries institutionalized their cooperative ties built through joint efforts to evacuate their nationals from Libya in August, and laid the groundwork for learning lessons from each other’s systems for protecting their overseas nationals and for working substantially together in the event of a contingency. 


                  Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation