07-07-2025
S. Korea, Britain set to hold 5th round of follow-up negotiations to improve FTA
South Korea and Britain were set to kick off a fresh round of follow-up negotiations aimed at upgrading their bilateral free trade agreement to further facilitate trade and investment between the two countries, Seoul's industry ministry said Monday.
Trade delegations from the two countries were set to hold the fifth round of negotiations in Seoul from later in the day, seeking to ease regulations on product origins and introduce new rules in areas of supply chain and digital trade, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The trade talks are scheduled to run through Friday.
In this week's meeting, the countries will exchange their opinions on 16 areas, including services, investment, digital trade, product origin regulations and government procurement.
Seoul and London implemented their bilateral FTA in 2021, following Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. The negotiations to modernize the trade agreement began in 2023.
"Amid intensifying global trade protectionism, the importance of free trade agreements is growing every day," said Kwon Hye-jin, director general for FTA negotiations at the ministry.
"By improving the Korea-Britain FTA, we hope the two countries can jointly respond to the global supply chain risk and expand cooperation in trade and investment in major sectors," she added. (Yonhap)
