So, that's where Korea, EU relations stand... but what about Korea, UK ties?
Exactly three months since UK's historic decision to leave the European Union...
what kinds of changes have we seen on Seoul-London front... and what changes do we expect down
the road for the centuries old South Korea, UK relations?
I met with Charles Hay, the UK Ambassador to South Korea.
Hi, Mr. Ambassador.
Thank you so much for inviting us to our home.
My pleasure.
Very welcome.
Well come on in.
This is a very historic house it dates back to the 19th century it was built in the 1890
and despite all of the terrible things during Korea's history in the 20th century this place
did survive, undamaged.
And this is the original foundation stone which was laid by the console of the time
in 1890.
And I see that you have photographs of your family and children, young children.
Yes we got two small children..that's them there..this was taken a couple of years ago.
These are more photographs on the piano here.
In the back there's my father.
This was taken in Laos, he was a diplomat there back in the 1970s and I lived in Laos
when I was very young, for a couple of years.
Wow so you have a whole mixure of cultures in your family...including now Korea.
Well, Korea is becoming an important part of our lives.
and we cook Korean food for the children..our eldest daughter was so inspired by the Rio
Olympics she wants to represent the UK in Taekwondo when she's old enough.
We bought this plot of land back in 1883 I believe or 1884?
I think it cost a 17-thousand won at the time.
17-thousand won??
That would be roughly...
Not very much money.
But it was a fantastic investment.
And it was an investment in the relationship between our countries.
because of course Britain was the second country to establish diplomatic relations with Korea
This is the foundation stone I mentioned so thats the modern copy...where the old one
was.
As you can see..the date of the house being built...
1890.
So Ambassador.
How has your life changed since you have been posted to the UK Ambassador to South Korea?
It's been a year and 8 months.
That's right.
Although I have spent the 6 months before that here in Seoul as a student studying Korean.
And that was wonderful because I didn't have any resposibilities as Ambassador..was able
to travel around on the underground..I was studying and it was a wonderful way to try
to get to know Korea a little bit better.
I was lucky enough to spend 3 weeks living with a family in Busan which is a wonderful
experience..Firstly I wanted to get to know Busan which of course being the second largest
city of Korea..very important to us.
but also to live with a family and to be completely immersed in the language and culture..it's
challenging but its the best way of learning.
Speaking of family, you're here with your family..your wife and two kids how is their
experience of Korea?
how are they they enjoying Korea?
They're enjoying it very much and they've..i suppose like many other children..they've
adapted many ways better than their parents have so they go to school.
Before we came when I have found that I had this job..I told the children we're going
to Korea and they said..well..where's that?
And I said well you know..gangnam style..and of course they immediately got that because
gangnam style was very popular.
Here is a traditional Korean style pot that my eldest daughter made during a visit to
..not perfectly shaped but still a good effort..and my other daughter made this bookmark with
a Korean style tassel on it and then this is a plate made of a Korean traditional paper.
So one of the hot topics these days regarding the UK…is of course BREXIT…what is the
latest development since that referendum?
we have had very dramatic political changes in Britain…our former prime minister DAVID
Cameron stepped down…we now have a new prime minister…Theresa May..our second female
prime minister since Margaret thatcher…
she has formed a new government.
It's an entirely new government
So…in many ways…everything has changed…since we are going to leave the EU, but just now
nothing has changed because all the former laws and rules and so on still apply…and
I should underline that is exactly what's going to happen.. as far as the EU Korea free
trade agreement is concerned… because one of the big implications is the over trade
between the our countries… but until the moment that the UK leaves the EU, which will
be at least 2 to 2.5 years….
That FTA will continue to apply between the UK and Korea..
Our next step, our next challenge is to replace that with something else..which will ensure
that free trade continues between the UK and Korea
Now could that be in the form of a bilateral free trade agreement between Seoul and London…
It could be…there's lots of different options….
One possibility could be some form of grandfathering…where the old agreement continues to apply between
Uk and Korea, and we need to work all that out… we need to discuss that we the Korean
government.
In the early days really UK and korea as one of our major trading partners….
Is going to be a very important part of that…
What are some areas that South Korea and the UK could do better?
Should there be a bilateral free trade agreement between the 2 countries in lieu of the South
Korea EU trade deal?
It's a very interesting question…
The future free trade agreement is going to be simpler..the EU free trade agreement has
to cover a massive range of goods… and particularly agricultural goods that are not produced or
grown in the UK… so it many ways it can be simpler….
But I think there are ways in which it can be improved
One obvious one is the service sector.
The current free trade agreement is very broad…
it does cover the service sector up to a point…but when we look at the trade figures we see that
the UK exports relatively few services to Korea and vice versa… so there's a lot that
can be done to open up our service sectors.
And president park has of course identified the service sector as one of the key drivers
of growth for the future..
And what about on the cultural…people to people exchange front?
Do we foresee a change in that as well?
I'd like to see that intensify even further…it's been great for me as ambassador here to see
how more and more young Koreans are interested in studying the UK … and also…more British
people are interested in learning about Korea…Korean language… and literature…and the numbers
are rising…although the numbers are still a fairly low base…
Next year in 2017 we are going to have a year of creative futures…a year of intensive
cultural cooperation exchange between KOREA and UK…that's going be very exciting…
Last but not least…BY the end of your term here, 18 months later…
what would you like to have achieved…your goal…both personally and professionally?
Professionally, there's a lot for us to do for the future.
We talked about Brexit, and the need for trade arrangements..i would like to see an increasing
amount of trade and investment between UK and Korea..despite all of the uncertainty.
On the investment side, interestingly..we have not had a falling off of interest from
Koreans who want to invest in the UK..and that's very encouraging.
And I'd like to an acceleration of that..we talked about the 2017 year of creative futures..i'd
think thats going to be a fantastic way to strengthening the already-strong cultural
relationships between UK and korea..i'd particularly like to see progress in opening up the services-sector
here in Korea for British companies..i think we have a lot to learn from you and a lot
to offer..
On a personal level I'd like to work on my Korean…
I have 2 lessons a week… and I'm getting to the stage now where I can communicate about
relatively simple things…
I'd like to be able to communicate better about more complicated thing.
I am sure you will by the end of your term here..best of luck to you in learning Korean
language and best of luck to the two countries in formulating a new chapter in the bilateral
ties.
Thank you so much for the interview today.