The UK’s automotive trade association, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), has announced the UK and South Korea are to work together on autonomous and electric cars thanks to the signing of a memorandum of understanding.

The SMMT and its Korean counterpart, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA), confirmed at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show that the two nations will pool their respective talents “in developing connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) and low and zero emission technology”.

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The UK is one of the world’s leading nations in connected and autonomous cars, with the government keen to take advantage of industry predicted to be worth £907 billion by 2035, and ministers promising to have “fully self-driving” vehicles on our roads by 2021.

South Korea, meanwhile, is one of the world’s leaders in 5G network coverage, a key technology for autonomous cars that will see an architecture of ‘smart’ street furniture and vehicles to help make self-driving cars a possibility. Korea is also one of the global leaders in EV batteries, with firms like Samsung and LG Chem helping the nation’s manufacturers produce mainstream electric models like the Kia e-Niro and Hyundai Kona Electric, which have among the longest ranges of electric cars available today.