South Korea, Argentina Hold Summit... Agreed on Lithium Cooperation and Crude Oil Imports

[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung, currently on a tour of South America, has held a summit with the president of Argentina. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on supply chain cooperation for critical minerals such as lithium, which is used as a raw material for batteries and semiconductors, and also agreed to pursue the import of Argentine crude oil into South Korea.

Reporter Kang Cheongwan has this report from Buenos Aires.

[Reporter]

President Lee Jae-myung arrives at the Casa Rosada, the Argentine presidential palace, and poses for commemorative photos and shakes hands with Argentine President Javier Milei.

Visiting Argentina for the first time as a South Korean president in 22 years, President Lee held a summit with President Milei that lasted for about an hour and a half.

The two leaders signed an MOU on supply chain cooperation for critical minerals, including lithium—a raw material for batteries and semiconductors for which Argentina holds the world's 4th largest reserves.

[Wi Sung-lac / Director of National Security: We reaffirmed the Argentine government's continued commitment to supporting lithium projects pursued by South Korean companies...]

As part of efforts to diversify South Korea's crude oil supply chain, which is heavily concentrated in the Middle East, the two sides also decided to push for importing Argentine crude oil starting next year.

To help South Korean companies expand into Argentina, they finalized a bilateral double taxation avoidance agreement and agreed to resume negotiations on the Mercosur trade agreement with the four major South American nations at an early date.

During the meeting, the two leaders engaged in a serious conversation about artificial intelligence (AI), and President Milei reportedly mentioned that he is a fan of K-beauty.

The Cheong Wa Dae highlighted the critical mineral supply chain cooperation pledged with resource-rich Brazil, Chile, and Argentina as a major achievement of this South American summit diplomacy.

[Wi Sung-lac / Director of National Security: We have firmly established a cooperation framework at the state-to-state level to secure essential critical minerals vital across the entire AI supply chain.]

Having concluded his summit with the Argentine president, President Lee Jae-myung will head to Germany tomorrow (August 2), the final stop of his current tour.

(Video by Jeong Sang-bo | Video Editing by Park Seon-su)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.