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Prime Minister Sipilä met South Korea's Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon

Government Communications Department
Publication date 19.2.2018 10.36 | Published in English on 19.2.2018 at 14.23
Press release 79/2018

Prime Minister Sipilä met South Korea's Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon and the Mayor of Seoul, Park Won-soon, on 19 February in Seoul. The topics discussed at the premiers' bilateral meeting included the relations between Finland and South Korea.

Prime Minister Sipilä said that the EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has boosted trade in both directions. For Finland, the FTA has been useful. In the period from 2011 to 2016, Finnish exports to South Korea have increased by almost 40%. Minister Sipilä also emphasised the importance of direct contacts and tourism for the development of the relations between the two countries. Sipilä said that he is very happy about the technological cooperation between the countries, one example of which is the 5G mobile network pilot.  In addition, Prime Minister Sipilä said that it would be important that the countries develop their cooperation related to high-growth companies and Smart Cities.

The premiers also had a thorough discussion on the challenging situation in the Korean Peninsula and on the regional situation.

Mayor Park Won-soon conferred an Honorary Citizenship of Seoul upon Prime Minister Sipilä. At their meeting, the Mayor and Minister Sipilä discussed, among other things, the Smart City cooperation and Finland's experiences of the basic income experiment.

Inquiries: Jani Raappana, Special Adviser (international affairs), tel. +358 50 566 7889, Prime Minister’s Office