President Yoon Suk Yeol held summit talks with the leaders of Britain and South Africa on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Brazil on Tuesday. 

In the meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Rio de Janeiro, the two leaders noted that their nations have strongly condemned illicit military cooperation between North Korea and Russia in unison. 

Yoon and Starmer acknowledged the interconnected security challenges in Northeast Asia and Europe and agreed to collaborate on peace and reconstruction efforts in Ukraine. 

The two leaders also agreed to accelerate negotiations to upgrade a bilateral free trade agreement and to communicate closely to enhance cooperation in the carbon-free energy sector. 

Yoon’s summit with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa focused on cooperation on supply chains for critical minerals.

Yoon explained Seoul's plans to launch a dialogue on critical minerals at Mining Indaba, an African mining conference set to take place in South Africa in February, and asked for Ramaphosa’s support for the initiative. 

The two leaders also agreed to continue cooperation to ensure the international community issues a stern message against North Korea’s provocations and its military cooperation with Russia.

Yoon wrapped up his six-day trip to Peru and Brazil to attend the APEC and G20 summits on Tuesday and departed for Seoul.