Day 723 — South Korea's Lee Jae-myung Makes First State Visit in 16 Years; Mexico and Korea Sign 17 Cooperation Agreements

President Sheinbaum received South Korean President Lee Jae-myung at Palacio Nacional on September 24, 2026 (Day 723, Thursday), the first official visit by a South Korean head of state to Mexico since 2010. The two governments adopted the Plan de Acción México-Corea 2026-2030 and signed 17 memorandums of understanding spanning economic and financial cooperation, academic mobility, culture, tourism, science and technology, intellectual property, agriculture and security, including a plan for a K-pop culture center in Mexico and a Mexican cultural institute in South Korea. The countries also concluded a bilateral investment-promotion and protection agreement negotiated over seven years, and floated a $100 million credit scheme to help Mexican firms buy Korean goods and services. Officials cited $27 billion in 2025 bilateral trade and more than $11.5 billion in accumulated South Korean investment since 2006 across roughly 2,000 companies, with new cooperation areas flagged in artificial intelligence, aerospace, electromobility and supply chains; Sheinbaum's government also raised sharing intelligence databases and strategies against organized crime. Lee Jae-myung called Mexico "the tenth economic power and center of the global supply chain, a strategically relevant partner for Korea," while Sheinbaum said the two agreed on "deepening complementary economic cooperation that generates shared prosperity." Lee also signed the Senate's honor book during the visit.