MEXICO CITY — President Lee Jae-myung arrived in Mexico City on the 23rd after wrapping up his U.N. General Assembly schedule in New York. It is the first state visit to Mexico by a South Korean president in 16 years, and Lee is set to hold a summit with his Mexican counterpart on the 24th.
Lee landed at Felipe Angeles International Airport that afternoon. Lee Ju-il, South Korea's ambassador to Mexico, greeted him at the airport, along with Mexican Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco, Vice Foreign Minister Maria Teresa Mercado, Chief of Protocol Jonathan Chait Auerbach, Asia-Pacific Director General Fernando Gonzalez and Carlos Penafiel, Mexico's ambassador to South Korea.
During the three-day state visit, Lee will begin the 24th by laying a wreath at the Monument to the Heroes of the Nation before attending an official welcoming ceremony at the presidential palace. He will then hold a summit with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at Palacio Nacional, the Mexican presidential palace, proceeding from the welcoming ceremony to a one-on-one meeting, expanded talks, an exchange of memorandums of understanding and a joint press announcement.
The summit aims to lift bilateral cooperation across the economy, industry, exchanges and culture, centering on artificial intelligence, critical minerals and defense. Lee will meet with members of the Korean community that evening and attend a business forum at the World Trade Center in Mexico City on the morning of the 25th.
Ahead of the visit, Lee wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Mexico is a strategic hub linking North America and Latin America and South Korea's largest trade and investment partner in the region. "We will further develop the strategic partnership the two countries established in 2005 and pool our wisdom so that it leads to tangible results that citizens and businesses can feel," he said.
Wi Sung-lac, director of the National Security Office, said in a pre-trip briefing that the visit would strengthen practical cooperation with Mexico in trade, investment and supply chains. He added that with Mexico pursuing military modernization, the two sides could also discuss cooperation built around Korean defense products.
