President Lee Makes First Official Visit to Argentina in 22 Years... Lithium Supply Chain, MERCOSUR Talks to Resume

Summit with President Milei on the 31st:
Expanding Cooperation in Critical Minerals, Energy, and Food

Resuming Defense, Science and Antarctic Consultative Bodies
Requesting Support for the Korean Community

On the night of the 30th (local time), President Lee Jae-myung arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and began his official two-night, three-day visit. This marks the first official visit by a South Korean president to Argentina in 22 years.

President Lee Jae-myung and President Jose Antonio Kast are greeting their aides and the press while entering the presidential palace after the official welcoming ceremony at the Santiago Presidential Palace on the 30th (local time). 2026.7.31 Yonhap News Agency
Photo by Yonhap News Agency

This is the last stop on his tour, which has included San Francisco in the United States, as well as Brazil and Chile. President Lee plans to focus on strengthening economic security cooperation with Argentina, a country rich in key minerals such as lithium, as well as energy and food resources, and on securing momentum for resuming negotiations on the Korea-MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market) trade agreement.

Kang Yoo-jung, Chief Presidential Spokesperson, announced in a written briefing today that President Lee will hold a summit with Argentine President Javier Milei on the morning of the 31st.

The two leaders will first discuss ways to establish a stable supply chain for key minerals, including lithium. Together with Bolivia and Chile, Argentina forms the “Lithium Triangle,” which is one of the world's largest lithium-rich regions. The Argentine government also considers itself the world's fourth-largest holder of lithium reserves.

With this summit as an opportunity, the two countries plan to establish a cooperative system covering the exploration, development, production, and supply of key minerals. The goal is to diversify the lithium supply chain required for advanced industries such as electric vehicle batteries and energy storage devices, thereby increasing the reliability of raw material procurement for Korean companies.

The resumption of negotiations for the Korea-MERCOSUR trade agreement is also a prime agenda item. Argentina, together with Brazil, is a core member of MERCOSUR. Previously, on the 27th, President Lee and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil agreed at their summit to strengthen working-level talks to advance the trade agreement negotiations. President Lee is expected to also ask President Milei for cooperation for a swift resumption of talks.

The two countries will also expand cooperation in the fields of defense industry, science and technology, Antarctic research, culture, and education. Plans are underway to fully reactivate high-level exchanges and intergovernmental consultative bodies, which have previously been suspended or inactive, in order to achieve tangible results that can be felt by the people and businesses of both nations.

After the summit, President Lee will meet with Jorge Macri, the Mayor of Buenos Aires, who has led the city government since 2023. President Lee plans to ask the city government to continue showing interest and providing support to ensure the stable settlement and activities of Argentina's Korean community, which numbers about 23,000 and is the second-largest Korean community in South America.

He will then hold a dinner meeting with local Koreans, listen to the challenges they face, and encourage those who have contributed to the development of relations between the two countries. Chief Spokesperson Kang stated, "Through this visit, we expect to advance cooperation with Argentina—which possesses all major elements of economic security such as key minerals, energy, and food—to a new level."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.