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President Yoon Suk-yeol will undertake a state visit to the United Kingdom from the 20th to the 23rd. This visit was arranged upon the invitation of King Charles III of the UK, marking the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and the UK. As the first state guest invited after King Charles's coronation, the visit includes a speech at the UK Parliament and a summit meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. After completing the state visit in the UK, President Yoon will travel to Paris, France, to make the final bid for the Busan Expo.

Kim Tae-hyo, the First Deputy Director of the National Security Office, announced President Yoon’s year-end travel schedule on the 8th at the Yongsan Presidential Office building. President Yoon’s state visit to the UK will take place immediately after attending the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit from the 15th to the 17th, a 2-night, 3-day event. He will depart again just two days after returning to Korea. The day before, King Charles III delivered a 'King’s speech' at the UK Parliament for the first time in 70 years, expressing anticipation for the state visit of President Yoon and his spouse.

King Charles III of the United Kingdom, The King's Speech.
Photo by Yonhap News

During the 4-day, 3-night stay in the UK, President Yoon will participate in a meeting with the Korean diaspora, official state events, a parliamentary speech, meetings with the Speakers of both Houses, and a summit with Prime Minister Sunak. Deputy Director Kim stated, "The two countries plan to discuss ways to strengthen strategic cooperation in various fields such as digital technology, AI, cybersecurity, security, nuclear power, defense industry, biotechnology, space, semiconductors, offshore wind power, and clean energy," adding, "They also plan to adopt a document outlining the future direction of cooperation."

Choi Sang-mok, Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs, identified the economic keywords for the UK state visit as ▲ securing new markets ▲ supply chains ▲ advanced science and technology ▲ and a carbon-neutral energy alliance. Given that the UK is the world’s sixth-largest market, it holds great significance as a foothold to increase the possibility of entering Commonwealth countries. President Yoon also plans to discuss improvements to the Korea-UK FTA during this visit and support building a foundation for Korean companies to operate smoothly in the UK market.

Regarding strengthening advanced supply chains, cooperation is expected to be enhanced in semiconductors, offshore wind power, biotechnology, and 5G. They also plan to concretize future cooperation in advanced industrial supply chains, including establishing ministerial-level supply chain dialogue channels. Additionally, cooperation in advanced science and technology fields is anticipated. The UK has produced a total of 137 Nobel laureates to date. Accordingly, President Yoon intends to promote expanded cooperation in AI, advanced biotechnology, and quantum technologies.

After completing the UK schedule, President Yoon will immediately move to Paris, France, to engage in the Expo bid. Ahead of the final vote for the World Expo host on the 28th, he will meet with representatives of various countries to the BIE (Bureau International des Expositions) in Paris on the 23rd and 24th. Through this final bid effort, President Yoon plans to express Korea’s strong determination and preparedness for hosting the 2030 Busan World Expo and devote full efforts to negotiations.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Office also revealed President Yoon’s last overseas trip of the year. In December, President Yoon will make a state visit to the Netherlands upon the invitation of King Willem-Alexander. This will be the first state visit since diplomatic relations were established in 1961, and he will stay in The Hague for two days, from the 12th to the 13th.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.