President Lee Jae-myung and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva agreed at their summit to resume trade negotiations with the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), promote mineral cooperation centered on rare earths, proceed with the introduction of C-390 transport aircraft, and further open the market to meat imports.

In their joint statement, President Lee and President Lula said, “The two leaders emphasized cooperation on critical and strategic minerals, including rare earths, and the importance of building diversified, resilient, sustainable, and inclusive supply chains,” and added, “They underlined their willingness to hold further discussions, including through meetings among relevant government agencies, on developing all stages of the supply chain, including technology transfer, in line with each side’s domestic priorities related to value-added creation.”

They also pledged cooperation in the aviation sector, including the introduction of civil aircraft. The two leaders “recalled and expressed satisfaction that Korea has decided to introduce Embraer’s C-390 multi-mission transport aircraft, becoming the first Asian country to do so,” and stated that “the relevant authorities and companies of both countries will seek new cooperation opportunities in the defense, defense industry, aviation, and space sectors, including civil aircraft, advanced air mobility, training, humanitarian assistance, and disaster response activities.”

Korea also decided to lower the barrier to imports of Brazilian meat. In the joint statement, the two leaders “reconfirmed their commitment regarding access to the Korean market for Brazilian beef and pork. Starting with a technical on-site inspection by the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to be conducted in Brazil in August, the two sides agreed to complete without delay all procedures required for the risk assessment of Brazilian beef, provided all conditions are met.”

In addition, institutions from the two countries signed seven MOUs (memorandums of understanding) at a business roundtable held the same day. First, POSCO International signed a strategic MOU with Brazil’s Meteoric for the stable procurement of rare earth raw materials and the establishment of a supply chain. Under this agreement, Meteoric will supply rare earth intermediate products it produces to the global rare earth–permanent magnet supply chain that POSCO International is building.

SK Biopharmaceuticals decided to establish a joint venture with Brazil’s Eurofarma, cooperate in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and healthcare, and intensify efforts to develop drugs in the rare epilepsy segment.

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