1. Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam met with Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office on August 25. In the meeting, the two senior diplomats extensively exchanged views on matters of mutual concern, including ways to enhance the Republic of Korea-United Kingdom relations and cooperation on nuclear power plants, defense industry and consular affairs, as well as the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

2. The Vice Minister and the Minister of State welcomed the scope of bilateral cooperation broadening beyond political affairs, economy and trade to include science, technology, nuclear power, climate change, defense industry and various other fields. With regard to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the two sides agreed to hold close consultations between relevant government agencies to seek ways to continue boosting bilateral trade and investment without being affected by Brexit.

° Vice Minister Lim asked the UK government to pay attention to and take an active part in the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games set to kick off in February 2018. Minister of State Field responded that the UK government will send appropriate, ranking officials to support the ROK’s efforts to make a success of the event.

3. The two sides drew a common understanding that the ROK, competitive in the construction of nuclear power plants, and the UK, a country with high technology for and experiences in decommissioning nuclear power plants, could be good partners in the area, and agreed to continue consultations to move cooperation in the sector forward.

4. With respect to the accident of the Stellar Daisy vessel, Vice Minister Lim extended appreciation to the UK government for its sincere search efforts for the missing crewmen, although no missing crewmen had been located as a result of those efforts.

5. Vice Minister Lim stated that the ROK government, upholding the principles of no tolerance for war and peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue, will keep open its door to dialogue with the North and make diplomatic efforts, while continuously enforcing sanctions. He went on to extend appreciation to the UK government for its close coordination with the ROK government on policies toward the North.

° Minister of State Field, expressing understanding on and support for the ROK government’s policy calling for peaceful and diplomatic approaches to North Korea, stressed that the UK government will remain highly cooperative with the ROK government toward the denuclearization of the North.

6. The ROK-UK vice foreign ministerial meeting came merely one month after the Vice Minister’s visit to the UK in July, when he had invited the Minister of State to the ROK. It is seen to have served as an opportunity to reaffirm the close cooperation between ranking officials of the two countries on various issues.


* unofficial translation