President Lee Jae-myung and Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast shake hands at an official welcoming ceremony held at the presidential palace in Santiago on Oct. 30 (local time). News1
President Lee Jae-myung, on an official visit to Chile, is scheduled to hold a summit with Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast on the 30th, beginning with an official welcome ceremony. At the meeting, the two leaders are expected to pursue “FTA 2.0,” a framework covering digital trade, artificial intelligence (AI) and critical mineral supply chains, more than 20 years after the Korea-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA) took effect.
Lee attended the official welcome ceremony held in front of the Moneda Palace, Santiago’s presidential palace, together with his wife Kim Hye-kyung. Before the ceremony, Lee laid a wreath at the statue of “O’Higgins,” a Chilean independence hero. He is set to hold a summit with Kast focused on expanding the existing goods-centered FTA with Chile into future industries.
In an interview with EFE, a Spanish-language news agency in South America, released the previous day, Lee stressed that “the Korea-Chile FTA must also evolve to reflect a new reality in line with the reshaping global economic order.” He explained that “the purpose is not simply to revise trade rules, but to create business opportunities, support innovation and strengthen cooperation in new industrial sectors.” During the negotiation process, the two countries are expected to include areas such as labor standards and gender equality as part of the modernization.
According to the interview, the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on a Korea-Chile mineral resources partnership will also be discussed on the occasion of the summit. The interview conveyed that cooperation in areas such as infrastructure, the defense industry, public safety and maritime safety will be included on the agenda.
The Korea-Chile FTA has served as a foundation for expanding trade between the two countries since it took effect in 2004, but it had limitations in failing to reflect the new trade environment, including digital trade, data movement, AI, supply chain stability and clean energy. This modernization discussion is significant in that it broadens the scope of cooperation by expanding the agreement’s coverage to future high-tech industries in line with these changes.
Lee also plans to focus on building early trust with the new government that has come to power in Chile. President Kast, who took office in March this year, is assessed as right-leaning, unlike the previous government.
After an official luncheon with Kast, Lee will preside over a “Business Roundtable” event, a venue for exchange between Korean and Chilean business leaders. He is expected to pledge government support for trade between companies of the two countries in areas such as Chile’s critical minerals and the battery and energy sectors that utilize them, as well as infrastructure, high-tech industries and K-beauty.