[Anchor]

President Lee Jae-myung, currently on a tour of South America, held a summit with the president of Argentina, where the two leaders agreed to cooperate on importing Argentine crude oil and expanding the supply chain for critical minerals. The presidential office noted that a cooperative framework has been established for critical minerals, which are essential resources for the future AI industry.

Reporting from Buenos Aires, here is reporter Kang Cheongwan.

[Reporter]

President Javier Milei of Argentina warmly greets President Lee Jae-myung upon his arrival at the Casa Rosada.

[Nice to meet you.]

This marks the first visit by a South Korean head of state to Argentina in 22 years. The 90-minute summit focused primarily on raw material cooperation, including crude oil and critical minerals.

To ensure stability in crude oil supply and expand its supply chains, the South Korean government decided to begin importing crude oil from Argentina starting next year.

[Wi Sung-lac / Director of National Security: We have conducted a trial import of Argentine crude oil this year and agreed that both governments will cooperate to ensure that the scheduled crude oil imports proceed stably from next year.]

A memorandum of understanding on critical mineral cooperation was also signed, paving the way for South Korean companies to jointly mine lithium—an essential raw material for semiconductors and batteries, with Argentina holding the world's fourth-largest reserves.

During the summit, President Lee emphasized that "speed is important" and proposed accelerating cooperation. President Milei responded that there would be no issue with speed, noting that his administration has implemented tens of thousands of regulatory reforms, according to the presidential office.

The presidential office highlighted the establishment of supply chains for critical minerals essential to the AI industry, such as rare earths and lithium, as one of the key achievements of President Lee's three-nation South American tour covering Brazil, Chile, and Argentina.

[Wi Sung-lac / Director of National Security: We have firmly solidified a state-to-state cooperative framework to secure critical minerals that are vital across the entire AI supply chain, including semiconductors.]

Following the domestic announcement of the three major mega-projects, the presidential office assessed that President Lee has presented a vision to elevate South Korea into a core AI nation through his ongoing tours to the United States and South America.

(Camera: Jung Sang-bo | Video Editing: Nam Il | Design: Park Chun-woong)