President Lee Jae-myung, who is touring the United States and three South American nations—Brazil, Chile and Argentina—said on the 25th that he would push to resume trade agreement negotiations with Mercosur (the Southern Common Market) and strengthen cooperation on critical minerals essential for the artificial intelligence (AI) era.
In a written interview with Spain's EFE news agency released the same day, Lee said Korea-South America relations were "entering a new phase." The written interview was conducted with the aim of informing the people of South American nations about the purpose of Lee's visit in Spanish.
Lee first assessed that "Mercosur member states are global leaders in agriculture, food production, energy and critical minerals, while Korea is a global leader in advanced manufacturing, digital technology, shipbuilding, batteries and innovation." He added that "South America holds resources essential for future industries, while Korea possesses advanced technology, industrial know-how and investment capacity."
"By combining these strengths, we can build resilient value chains that benefit both regions," he explained. "We can build resilient supply chains together, foster new industries and create quality jobs that benefit both regions."
In particular, he said, "As protectionism spreads and concerns grow over geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions and energy security, each country needs reliable partners and trade based on clear norms and mutual trust." He also stressed that "going forward, Korea-South America cooperation should not be defined simply as a relationship of exchanging natural resources for manufactured products," adding that "it should become a relationship that creates value together through innovation, investment, technology and talent."
In this context, Lee presented the modernization of the economic cooperation framework with South America—including updating the Korea-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Korea's first free trade agreement signed and enacted in 2004—as a key task of this visit. Lee analyzed that "now, more than 20 years later (after the agreement was signed), we have an opportunity to modernize this agreement to reflect new areas such as digital trade, environmental cooperation, labor standards, gender equality and innovation."
Finally, Lee stressed, "Our goal is clear," adding that "it is for Korea and South America to build deep relationships not only in a successful economic relationship but also in exchanges between societies and cooperation between future generations."
