Highlights
- Lee Jae-myung will be visiting Mexico as the first South Korean state head to visit there since 2016.
- BTS strengthened Korea-Mexico relations after meeting Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and drawing 50,000 fans in Mexico City.
- South Korea is pushing to restart long-stalled free trade agreement talks with Mexico amid growing economic cooperation.
Seoul and Mexico are renewing their diplomatic ties, as per a statement from the Cheong Wa Dae, also known as the Blue House, the South Korean presidential executive office. The authorities noted that President Lee Jae-myung accepted an invitation from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo to visit Mexico. The upcoming trip will mark the first visit of a South Korean State Head to the Latin American nation since April 2016. According to experts, the visit capitalizes on the momentum created during their G7 sideline summit in June 2025, the first Korea-Mexico conclave in nine years.
BTS Diplomacy Fuels Korea-Mexico Relations
According to The Korea Herald, senior presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung stated that working-level preparations are in the process to advance bilateral ties. This momentum comes after persistent high-level correspondence, including a January letter from Sheinbaum requesting expanded tour dates for K-pop group BTS. The cultural push culminated on May 6 when BTS members held a 40-minute meeting with Sheinbaum before drawing 50,000 spectators to Mexico City’s Zocalo Square.
South Korea Pushes FTA Revival with Mexico
Amidst this strengthening cultural ties boosted by BTS, Lee also congratulated Mexico for hosting the World Cup for a third time. In the meantime, South Korea seeks to revitalize its commercial aspects with the latter. Over a call, Lee initiated the talks of resuming the long-stalled free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between the two, based on the fact that Mexico remains South Korea’s largest trade and investment partner in Latin America.
The bilateral FTA between Mexico and South Korea began post 2000 but was halted in 2008. Since then, there has been little progress between both sides, until they agreed to revive talks in 2022. Highlighting the global economic uncertainty bolstered by the Central Asian war, Lee emphasized that both Korea and Mexico must fortify themselves through cooperation in critical sectors like energy. According to senior presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung, “Sheinbaum responded that she has great interest in expanding substantive cooperation with Korea, including economic cooperation.”
