Event Details

BCCK members are invited to attend a talk with HMA Colin Crooks LVO and senior diplomats at the British Embassy Seoul. To enable BCCK members to have visibility on the Embassy's work in Korea, the speakers will discuss the latest on the Free Trade Agreement, the AI Seoul Summit, which the UK government is co-hosting with the Republic of Korea, and give insights on domestic politics. Following the Talk there will be gin & tonic cocktails and networking. This is a complimentary event only for members which is sponsored by Diageo.

Speakers

  • Colin Crooks (British Ambassador to South Korea at British Embassy Seoul)

    Colin Crooks

    British Ambassador to South Korea at British Embassy Seoul

    Colin Crooks is a British diplomat serving as the British Ambassador to the Republic of Korea since February 2022. Previously he served as British Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from 2018 to 2021. Prior to serving as the Ambassador to the DPRK, Crooks served in various other positions in Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service, and was the Minister Counsellor at the British Embassy Beijing from 2015 to 2018 and the Chargé d'Affairs to the British Embassy in Pyongyang in 2008. He was posted to Seoul as a Second Secretary from 1995 to 1998 and served as a First Secretary through 1999. He speaks 6 languages including English, Korean, French, Mandarin, German and Indonesian.

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  • Tony Clemson (Country Director Department for Business and Trade)

    Tony Clemson

    Country Director Department for Business and Trade

    Tony Clemson is the Director of Trade and Investment for Korea, based in the British Embassy, Seoul.  He leads a team of Department for Department for Business and Trade (DBT) professionals to strengthen commercial partnerships with the UK. Tony’s role is to improve the trade and investment environment wherever possible, support UK companies to access the Korean market, and to help Korean companies to invest in the UK. He previously served in China from 2016 to 2022, initially as the Deputy Consul-General in Shanghai, and later as Deputy Director for Technology & Industry in the Department for International Trade.  In prior diplomatic roles, Tony covered international cyber security policy in London, and political and economic issues in South Korea and New Zealand. Before his Diplomatic Service, Tony served eight years as a Warfare Officer in the Royal Navy, deploying to the Atlantic, Caribbean and Middle East.

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  • Nora Hamdi (Political Secretary at British Embassy Seoul)

    Nora Hamdi

    Political Secretary at British Embassy Seoul

    Nora Hamdi is currently the Political Secretary in the British Embassy, responsible for the domestic political brief in the team. In London, she previously served on the Caribbean and US desks, and also took part in numerous deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. She has recently completed full time language training, and advises on Embassy engagement with the Korean political sphere.

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  • Jessica Bolton (Trade Policy Counsellor at British Embassy Seoul)

    Jessica Bolton

    Trade Policy Counsellor at British Embassy Seoul

    Jessica joined the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in December 2022. She began her posting in the British Embassy, Seoul as Trade Policy Counsellor in January 2024.
    Prior to joining the FCDO she worked at the Department for International Trade (now known as the Department for Business and Trade) where she led on the development of the UK’s first most-favoured-nation tariff schedule after EU-exit, designed the UK’s independent tariff suspension regime, and lead an operational team to deliver the UK’s independent trade policies on UK border systems. Before joining the Civil Service, she worked as a Management Consultant at Accenture in the Public Sector practice.
    Jessica is from London, and lives in Seoul with her husband and 1-year old son.

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  • Sarah McGuire (Digital Counsellor at British Embassy Seoul)

    Sarah McGuire

    Digital Counsellor at British Embassy Seoul

    Sarah leads the British Embassy’s work on digital technology policy and digital trade, and started her role as Digital Counsellor in May 2021. Prior to joining BE Seoul, Sarah led work on the UK’s China-facing technology policy in the Department for Digital, on EU Exit preparations in the (then) Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and on EU bilateral strategy in the (then) FCO). Before becoming a UK civil servant, Sarah spent time working in the UK House of Commons as a researcher and worked for the European Commission in Spain.

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Tickets

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