Lee, Lula discuss ways to revive Korea-Mercosur trade negotiations
South Korea and Brazil agreed to elevate their ties to a strategic partnership, adopting a four-year action plan and unveiling a package of cooperation deals during a summit between the two leaders Monday.
President Lee Jae Myung met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at Cheong Wa Dae on Monday during Lula’s three-day state visit to South Korea, which began the previous day.
Lee announced the elevation of bilateral ties, citing the steady rise in trade — which has exceeded $10 billion annually over the past five years — and expanding cooperation in future sectors such as space, biopharmaceuticals and cultural industries.
“Based on this solid cooperative relationship, President Lula and I have decided to elevate bilateral relations to a strategic partnership,” Lee said during a televised news conference following the summit.
Seoul and Brasilia formalized diplomatic relations in 1959 and established a “comprehensive cooperative partnership” during President Roh Moo-hyun’s 2004 visit to Brazil.
“The Korea-Brazil four-year action plan adopted today will serve as a road map to guide bilateral relations across comprehensive fields, including politics, the economy, practical cooperation and people-to-people exchanges,” Lee added.
Lula underscored that the two countries had “elevated ties to a strategic partnership and launched an action plan that includes concrete initiatives going forward.”
“By further expanding the institutional foundation for exchange and cooperation, we will strengthen the people-to-people solidarity and bonds that have linked our nations,” Lula said at the news conference, noting that Brazil is home to Latin America’s largest Korean community of about 50,000 people.
In the Action Plan to Implement the Brazil-Korea Strategic Partnership 2026-2029, the two sides agreed to expand cooperation across politics, trade and investment, defense, energy and decarbonization, science and technology, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges, while strengthening supply-chain resilience and clean-energy innovation.
The plan underscored the need to “deepen dialogue and coordination on issues of common interest,” with a view to strengthening mutual trust and promoting peace, security and stability at the international level, and also pledged efforts to advance a Korea-MERCOSUR trade framework.
Speaking at the news conference, Lee and Lula pointed out that they discussed ways to resume talks on a Korea-Mercosur trade pact, which have been stalled since 2021.
“Brazil is a key member of the Southern Common Market. I explained the need to promptly resume negotiations for the conclusion of a trade agreement between Korea and Mercosur, and President Lula also deeply agreed that concluding the trade agreement is an urgent task,” Lee said. “In addition, we also shared the view that we should seek to create a breakthrough based on trust between the two leaders.”
Mercosur, or the Southern Common Market, is a South American trade bloc aimed at promoting free trade and economic integration between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Negotiations for a Korea-Mercosur trade agreement were launched in May 2018 and advanced through seven rounds of formal talks until 2021, but have remained effectively suspended since then.
Beyond the regional trade pact, Lee said the two countries “agreed at the summit to establish an implementation framework for sector-specific cooperation by signing 10 memorandums of understanding and related arrangements.”
The memorandum on small and medium-sized enterprise cooperation is expected to serve as a key catalyst for broadening bilateral trade and investment — long driven by large conglomerates — to include smaller firms, Lee said. Through the regulatory cooperation memorandum in the health sector, Korean beauty products, which have recently gained popularity in Brazil, are expected to reach a wider base of Brazilian consumers.
Speaking at the news conference, Lee underlined that “the two countries will expand the horizon of cooperation in future industries such as space, defense and aviation.”
Echoing the sentiment, Lula also underscored the untapped potential in bilateral ties, noting that “there remains substantial room for the two countries to jointly discover new opportunities.”
Lula said the global energy transition is opening fresh opportunities to expand complementarities between the two countries’ production sectors, while “critical mineral supply chains offer various possibilities to generate high added value.”
Lula added that the “scope for cooperation is also significant” in advanced technologies, semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
“Our partnership will create new opportunities across a wide range of sectors, from the beauty industry to audiovisual content,” Lula added.
Lee also expressed hope to reciprocate Seoul’s hospitality.
“I hope to invite President Lee to Brazil in the near future so that we may return the warm welcome extended to my delegation,” Lula said.
Lee spent the entire day with Lula on a packed schedule, hailing their rapport as an emotional bond forged through shared hardship and political adversity.
The day ended with “chimaek” — Korean fried chicken made with Brazilian poultry, alongside Brazilian chicken dishes, paired with Korean draft beer from a brand seeking to pioneer the Brazilian market — as a toast to unity..
Lula’s last visit to Seoul was for the G20 summit in November 2010. Only two Brazilian presidents had made state visits to South Korea: Fernando Henrique Cardoso in January 2001 and Lula himself in May 2005 at the invitation of then-President Roh.
dagyumji@heraldcorp.com
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