"Teenage Factory Worker Bond": President Lee and President Lula Hold Summit, Sign MOUs on Energy, Defense Industry and More

Brazilian President Lula Makes First State Visit in 21 Years...Summit to Be Held at the Blue House
Emotional Bond Confirmed Through Two Meetings at the G7 and G20
Strengthening Practical Cooperation in Areas Such as Trade and Investment

On the 23rd, President Lee Jaemyung will hold a summit meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the Blue House to discuss ways to strengthen practical economic cooperation, including trade and investment. Following the summit, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony, a joint press announcement, and a state dinner will take place.

President Lee Jaemyung is exchanging greetings with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the G20 leaders' summit was held. Yonhap News

President Lula's state visit to Korea is the first in 21 years since 2005, during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, and was made possible after President Lee invited him during last year's Group of 20 (G20) summit. According to the Blue House, this visit is also significant in that President Lula is the first foreign head of state to be received on a state visit since President Lee's "return to the Blue House."

The two leaders will begin the day with an official welcome ceremony in the morning, followed by signing the guest book, a commemorative photo session, and a small-group meeting, after which they will hold an expanded summit. They will then attend an MOU signing ceremony and a joint press announcement, and in the evening they will continue their engagement over a state dinner. Heads of major Korean conglomerates are also expected to attend the state dinner.

The core of this summit is the expansion of "practical cooperation." The two countries plan to discuss ways to raise the level of cooperation in a wide range of areas, not only in trade and investment but also in climate, energy, space, defense industry, science and technology, agriculture, education and culture, and people-to-people exchanges. Brazil is regarded as a traditional friendly nation that was the first among Latin American countries to establish diplomatic relations with Korea in 1959, and as Korea's largest trade and investment partner in South America. It is also home to the largest Korean community in Latin America, numbering 50,000 people.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived in Seoul via Seoul Airport on the evening of the 22nd and, stepping off his presidential plane, is greeting a welcoming delegation that includes Foreign Minister Cho Hyun. Yonhap News

President Lee and President Lula first met in person at the Group of Seven (G7) summit held in Canada last year, and have since broadened their points of contact by meeting again on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa.

In particular, the two leaders have built an emotional bond by sharing their common experience of having worked as teenage factory workers. Episodes such as President Lee injuring his arm in a press accident while working in his late teens, and President Lula losing a finger in a press accident during his teens, have served as topics of conversation. A Blue House official explained, "The two leaders share an emotional bond in that they both overcame personal adversity, and they also have in common a commitment to social integration and pragmatism."

Meanwhile, "first lady diplomacy" was set in motion ahead of the Korea-Brazil summit schedule. President Lula's wife, Rosangela da Silva, arrived in Korea before President Lula and carried out a schedule with First Lady Kim Hye-kyung, visiting the National Folk Museum of Korea in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and Gwangjang Market. At Gwangjang Market, the two first ladies spent time together choosing Hanbok fabrics and matching rings.