Proposes a multilateral consultation framework at the UN, opens the way for security talks with Trump… President Lee heads home after visits to the United States and Mexico - 경향신문

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President Lee Jae Myung and First Lady Kim Hea Kyung wave light sticks to greet the local audience at the Stray City concert held at GNP Stadium in Mexico City on the 25th (local time). Yonhap News

President Lee Jae Myung returns home on the night of the 27th after a five-night, seven-day itinerary that included attending the UN General Assembly in New York and a state visit to Mexico. His back-to-back attendance at the UN General Assembly, the largest multilateral diplomatic stage in the world, is seen as cementing the standing of South Korea as a responsible global nation, while tightening economic cooperation with Mexico, a hub linking North America and Latin America, is cited as another key outcome of the trip.

In particular, leveraging his attendance at the UN General Assembly, President Lee held a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in New York and agreed to put momentum back into stalled South Korea-U.S. security talks. Using progress in investment projects in the United States by South Korea, which are expected to be finalized and announced soon, as a springboard, the two countries agreed to accelerate cooperation on security agenda items including nuclear-powered submarines, enrichment and reprocessing, the transfer of wartime operational control, and shipbuilding.

Departing Seoul Air Base on the 21st, President Lee proposed to the international community at the 81st UN General Assembly in New York on the 22nd (local time) a state-to-state cooperation body, the ‘Coalition of Constructive Contributors’, to respond to supply chain crises such as a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Presenting ‘inclusive, stable, and responsible peaceful coexistence’ as the three-part blueprint for peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula, President Lee stated, “We will lay the groundwork that can develop into talks among the parties concerned to end the war on the Korean Peninsula and transition to a peace regime.” Building on what he mentioned in his Liberation Day address, he for the first time named the United States and China as parties and proposed a framework for South-North Korea-U.S.-China multilateral consultations to establish a peace regime.

During the U.S. trip, President Lee gave an interview to the New York Times and said, “There is considerable value in trading the easing of largely ineffective sanctions on North Korea for a freeze on further nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology development,” presenting an exchange of sanctions relief and a freeze on nuclear development as a realistic alternative for resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.

The South Korea-U.S. summit, the third since President Lee took office, is regarded as a key achievement of this trip. As negotiations on investments in the United States made rapid last-minute progress, a summit initially seen as unlikely came together dramatically. Hosted by President Trump, the South Korea-U.S. summit was held for 30 minutes on the 23rd in New York before the welcome reception for heads of state attending the UN General Assembly.

At the summit, President Lee was reported to have placed particular emphasis on the transfer of wartime operational control, while President Trump focused on cooperation in shipbuilding, including the additional construction of naval vessels. This was the first time the two leaders directly discussed the transfer of wartime operational control, which had remained at the working level.

The two leaders welcomed the significant progress in discussions on bilateral strategic investment projects and agreed, based on the joint fact sheet released in November last year, to further deepen South Korea-U.S. cooperation in areas such as nuclear-powered submarines, uranium enrichment and spent-fuel reprocessing, shipbuilding, and the transfer of wartime operational control.

On the same day, President Lee also held talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. On the final day of his New York visit, the 23rd, he attended the ‘Korea Investment Summit 2026’ with figures from the South Korean and U.S. financial and business communities in attendance, where he briefed global investors on South Korea AI policies, including three mega-projects, and capital market reform plans, and asked for investment in the Korean market.

President Lee then paid a state visit to Mexico, the first by a South Korean president in 16 years. In a summit on the 24th, President Lee and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to strengthen the institutional foundations for taking bilateral economic cooperation to the next level and to expand the scope of cooperation to finance and supply chains. The two countries concluded negotiations on an investment protection agreement that had dragged on for seven years. The agreement is expected to make it easier for South Korean companies to enter Mexico by reinforcing the practical protection of the rights of foreign investors, such as the recovery of invested capital. The two governments also signed 17 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and cooperation documents in areas including economy, industry, resources, AI, defense and space, and culture and tourism.

Through his summit with President Sheinbaum and venues such as the South Korea-Mexico Business Forum, President Lee repeatedly emphasized the need for a bilateral trade agreement. Mexico maintains that it can move to pursue a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea after the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), currently under renegotiation under U.S. pressure, is settled. On the back of this summit, there is talk that the two sides may first pursue negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which is a step below an FTA.

On the 24th in Mexico City, President Lee devoted himself to economic diplomacy, including a South Korea-Mexico business roundtable attended with Choi Tae-won, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and chairman of SK Group, and Koo Kwang-mo, chairman of LG Group; on the 25th he attended the South Korea-Mexico Business Forum and K-Expo, an exhibition event showcasing products of Korean companies operating locally.

On the 25th, President Lee and First Lady Kim Hea Kyung made an unannounced visit to the site of the ‘Random Dance Play’ gathering of local K-culture fans in Mexico, and that evening they also attended a Stray Kids concert together with Mexican youth.

A presidential office official said that day, “The state visit by the president has created a turning point for a dramatic leap in the strategic partnership with Mexico,” adding, “We assess that it has established an institutional foundation for expanding economic cooperation with Mexico, a top-10 global market, and fostered a favorable environment for entry into advanced industry markets such as AI, space, and defense.”