LatinNews Daily - 24 February 2026

*Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has led a delegation of government officials to Seoul, who signed various memoranda of understanding with their South Korean counterparts, while the two governments announced more generally that they were upgrading bilateral ties, forged in 1959, to the level of a strategic partnership. The cooperation agreements covered a range of sectors, including agriculture, technology, pharmaceuticals, culture, and education, as well as deals which pledged increased efforts to cooperate on law enforcement and environmental monitoring and regulation. Although Brazil and South Korea did not sign a specific deal on mining, Lula highlighted the opportunities offered by Brazil’s vast reserves of critical minerals which are key raw materials for manufacturing semiconductors and other electronic components, adding that South Korea is the world’s second largest producer of semiconductors. Lula also called for a resumption of the stalled negotiations for a trade deal between South Korea and the Mercosur regional trade bloc, expressing regret that these negotiations have not progressed since the last round of talks in 2021.

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