As Britain prepares to expand its commercial reach once it has left the European Union, the UK and South Korea are set to sit for regular trade talks with luxury brands a particularly promising topic. A working group of ministers from the two countries will meet as many as four times a year to discuss removing barriers to commerce and prospects for future, ambitious trade opportunities after the UK exits the EU, a British government statement read.
After Brexit, Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to make the UK a leader in liberalising trade around the world. Yet the country is unable to strike its own free-trade deals or even being formal negotiations while still a member of the EU.
The pending talks with South Korea follow similar dialogues the UK has opened with Australia, China, the Gulf Cooperation Council, India, New Zealand and Norway in the six months since voters chose to leave the EU in a referendum. Trade and investment between the UK and South Korea is worth about 10.9 billion pounds ($13.6 billion) a year, according to British estimates. The UK is the fifth-largest foreign direct investor in South Korea. The same statement of the UK government read that South Korea is an especially promising market for luxury brands such as the Burberry Group that has 70 stores in the country and high-end automakers Jaguar Land Rover and Bentley.
