Minister of For­eign Affairs Park Jin attended the Charles III King's coronation ceremony and the 140th anniversary celebration of the Korea-UK diplomatic relations reception on May 3rd. Various figures attended the reception including Colin Crooks, the British Ambassador to South Korea, government officials, business leaders, and cultural figures.

In his congratulatory speech, he congratulated the UK on the coronation ceremony of its king, which is being held after a 70- year gap, and announced that Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would attend the ceremony as a representative of South Korea. Minister Park also expressed his hope that King Charles III would bring positive influence to British society based on his particular interest in culture and the arts, climate change, and the environment.

Furthermore, Minister Park acknowledged that 2023 marks the 140th anniversary of diplo­matic relations between Korea and the UK and the 70th anni­versary of the Korean War Ar­mistice, and praised the strong bond between the two countries based on universal values such as freedom, democracy, and human rights. Minister Park highlighted the active high-lev­el exchanges between the two countries since the inaugura­tion of the Yoon Suk-yeol gov­ernment, including the summit meeting, the visit of the Korean President to the UK, and the visit of the Foreign Minister to Korea.

Minister Park also evaluated the expansion of cooperation in various fields such as space, nuclear power, and cyber se­curity based on the "Quantum Framework for Closer Coopera­tion," which was adopted during the summit meeting in June of last year, and expressed his hope that the future-oriented cooperation between the two countries will continue to devel­op through faithful implementa­tion of this framework.

The logo commemorating the 140th anniversary of Ko­rea-UK diplomatic relations uses the Taegukgi ( national flag of South Korea) Union Jack (national flag of UK), and the diplomatic departments of both countries are planning various exchange events to celebrate this anniversary this year.