The agreement under which the UK will supply Norway with at least five warships over the coming decade gives every appearance of being a win-win outcome. Type 26 frigates will significantly reinforce the ability of the Royal Norwegian Navy to protect a country with major maritime interests – all of Norway’s oilfields, the source of much of its considerable wealth, are offshore. By way of demonstrating that the threat is not theoretical, this week British, Norwegian and US forces have been pursuing a Russian submarine in the North Sea to discourage any funny ideas about it interfering with an exercise involving the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford. One of the primary attractions of the Type 26 is its capacity to hunt subs.

For the UK, the deal is the biggest export order it has ever received for warships – £10bn (€11.5bn). According to the government’s estimates, it will create or protect some 4,000 jobs, including 2,000 at the BAE Systems shipyard in Glasgow where the frigates will be built, with knock-on benefits to hundreds of other UK businesses. There might be more where that came from: Canada and Australia are already buying the Type 26 and interest has been expressed by New Zealand, Brazil and Malaysia. The deal also represents a vote of confidence in British manufacturing: Norway could have bought from France, Germany or the US.

Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre said that two questions had shaped his country’s thinking: “Who is our most strategic partner? And who has delivered the best frigates?” The answer to both was, apparently, the United Kingdom. 
 
His first question is more illuminating. Norway and the UK share an interest in the security of the North Sea oilfields, so there’s that. The Royal Navy has already ordered eight Type 26s and the concept of interoperability has become an increasing preoccupation of European countries as they realise that it makes sense to share kit in the face of a shared menace. UK defence secretary John Healey has said he anticipates that the British and Norwegian navies “will work as one”.

But since Brexit was finalised in 2020, what Norway and the UK have had in common is that they are European members of Nato but are not members of the EU (this also applies to Iceland and Turkey but the former doesn’t have a military and the latter no North Sea shoreline). Though there is little prospect of the UK rejoining the EU, this deal demonstrates the country’s commitment to the defence of the continent. Norway, which has a land border with Russia in its high north, has never had the luxury of leaving any doubt about this.    

The deal is a triumph for UK prime minister Keir Starmer. Despite coming across as a somewhat hesitant statesman, he has proven an impressively pushy salesman. Visiting Oslo in May for a meeting about a possible Joint Expeditionary Force for Ukraine (dubbed a “coalition of the willing”), Starmer met Støre aboard a Norwegian Coast Guard patrol boat and went as close as an often reserved politician might get to a car-dealer forecourt apex predator. The UK’s relationship with Norway, effused Starmer, “has been historically close, particularly on defence, and is in the strongest position it has been, probably ever.”

And while this is all good news for the UK, Norway and Europe, the much more important thing is that it’s bad news for Russian submarines.

Andrew Mueller is a contributing editor at Monocle and host of ‘The Foreign Desk’. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

The fate of one of Japan’s most distinctive modernist buildings is hanging in the balance (writes Fiona Wilson). The Kagawa Prefectural Gymnasium is a remarkable boat-shaped concrete structure – at one time a sporting venue of 1,300 seats – in the city of Takamatsu. It was designed in 1964 by the great postwar architect Kenzō Tange but has been sitting empty for more than a decade and is set to be torn down. There’s a fierce campaign under way to save the building and a petition signed by more than 45,000 people. Leading the charge is the Former Kagawa Prefectural Gymnasium Regeneration Committee, which includes several architects who held a press conference at the end of July proposing that they use private funds – already secured, at no cost to the public – to buy the building from the prefecture and restore it for another purpose, such as a hotel.

For all the outcry from home and abroad, modernist buildings in Japan rarely win a reprieve; the usual arguments about safety concerns are cited. The prefectural government put the demolition out to tender from yesterday and bids will be in the region of ¥1bn (€5.8m). Despite an injunction from the committee to halt the process, arguing that the cost to taxpayers is high enough to demand more discussion, prefectural governor Toyohito Ikeda has said the proposed plan to save the building lacks clarity and for now the demolition will go ahead. The clock is ticking. Tange’s spectacular Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, also from 1964, is listed as an “important cultural property” but its beleaguered counterpart in Takamatsu hasn’t been so lucky. Japan’s homegrown modernist building stock is diminishing – it needs to do more to look after this important part of its cultural heritage.

Looking to experience Frieze Seoul like a local (asks Sophie Monaghan-Coombs)? The art fair’s director, Patrick Lee, shares his expert guide to the top galleries, as well as what’s new. But first, here’s his take on what to visit in Seoul, from museum shows to the city’s most talked-about Korean barbecue.

Which shows would you recommend that visitors catch while they’re in town?
It’s always a tough choice given the range of amazing programmes across Seoul’s major institutions but I’ll highlight four. Lee Bul’s exhibition at Leeum Museum of Art is highly anticipated and she is an artist who I deeply admire. Mark Bradford at the Amorepacific Museum of Art has already received great feedback from the local audience. I’m also excited to see Adrián Villar Rojas at Art Sonje. Finally, the Seoul Museum of Art is hosting the 13th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, curated by the team behind e-flux: Anton Vidokle, Hallie Ayres and Lukas Brasiskis. It promises to be a highlight of the city’s art scene this year.

Where’s your favourite place to get a drink in the city?
Bar Cham and its offshoot, Cham in Season, have nice atmospheres and are popular with the artistic crowd. Cocktail bar Zest in the Cheongdam neighbourhood of Gangnam is also great. It has a loyal following and many galleries host events there during Frieze week.

And dinner?
South Korea is known for its barbecue culture. Everyone is currently talking about Golden Pig [Geumdwaeji Sikdang] and it never ever disappoints. 
 
To read the full interview with Lee, click here.

The Design Council’s CEO, Minnie Moll, previews the World Design Congress at London’s Barbican Centre. Plus: Abe Rogers discusses his curation of the Richard Rogers: Talking Buildings exhibition at Sir John Soane’s Museum.