South Korea and the United Kingdom agreed to maintain current agreements on free trade even in case of a "no deal" Brexit in which Britain leaves the European Union without a consensus agreement on post-Brexit conditions.  

South Korea's Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee and her British counterpart Liam Fox announced after a meeting in Seoul on Monday that the two countries agreed in principle on a Korea-U.K. free trade agreement(FTA).

Under the terms of the agreement, the two countries will enjoy the same benefits provided under the current Korea-EU FTA, regardless of the nature of Britain's divorce from the European bloc.

Automobiles, for instance, were to be subject to ten percent tariffs in case of a no-deal Brexit, but the settlement reached Monday freed the industry from such a contingency.

South Korean automakers were especially concerned over tariffs that could have resulted from a hard Brexit, as they exported one-point-six trillion won worth of automobiles to the U.K. last year. 

Britain is Korea's second-largest trade partner in the EU, with trade between the two countries totaling 14-point-five trillion won last year. 

The Trade Ministry said that it will accelerate domestic procedures so that the Korea-U.K. FTA could take effect before the U.K.’s scheduled departure from the EU at the end of October.