Lee Jae Myung Kicks Off Latin America Tour, Pitches Region as Key to Korea's Global South Push

President Lee Jae Myung opened his first tour of Latin America in Brazil on Sunday, framing the region as central to Seoul's effort to widen its diplomatic footprint at a moment of rapid change in global politics. The trip will also take him to Chile and Argentina.

Speaking during a virtual meeting with senior secretaries and aides from the Brazilian capital, Lee said diversifying South Korea's diplomatic partnerships had become essential for the country's stable growth as the international order is reshaped. He described Latin America, with its large population and rich resources, as one of the most promising frontiers for expanding Korea's global reach and cementing its role as a major international player.

Lee is scheduled to hold summit talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, their fifth meeting overall and second formal bilateral summit following Lula's state visit to Seoul in February. The two leaders have also crossed paths at multilateral gatherings including the G7 and G20 over the past year. Before leaving for Brasilia, Lee toured a C-390 transport aircraft that South Korea purchased from Brazil's Embraer, calling it the start of a broader defense relationship between the two nations and floating future cooperation on civilian aircraft production.

Economic and supply chain cooperation are expected to dominate the three-nation itinerary. Brazil, Chile and Argentina together form a market of roughly 280 million people and a combined economy worth about $3.7 trillion, according to the presidential office. With Brazil and Argentina, both leading members of the Mercosur trade bloc, Lee plans to discuss restarting long-stalled negotiations on a South Korea-Mercosur trade agreement. In Chile, Korea's first free trade partner, talks will focus on modernizing the existing bilateral deal.

The region's resource wealth adds further weight to the visit. Brazil holds the world's second-largest rare-earth reserves and ranks as a top exporter of coffee, sugar and chicken, while Chile commands the largest copper and lithium reserves globally and Argentina sits on the world's second-biggest shale gas deposits. Seoul views such assets as vital for diversifying supply chains amid climate and geopolitical risks.

The Latin America swing follows a stop in San Francisco, where Lee met executives from leading US artificial intelligence and chip firms and unveiled what his office called the San Francisco Declaration on AI. He told aides the visit had produced roughly $950 billion in prospective semiconductor partnerships between Korean and American companies, calling the declaration a statement of Korea's ambition to become a leading force in the AI era.