President Lee Jae Myung and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva agreed to elevate bilateral ties to a strategic partnership, underscoring the growing depth and scope of cooperation between the two countries, the two leaders announced Monday in Seoul following their summit earlier in the day. They also shared a common understanding of the need for Korea to resume negotiations on a trade agreement with the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR). The two countries pledged to deepen cooperation across a range of sectors by signing 10 memoranda of understanding, including agreements on small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) cooperation, health sector regulatory collaboration, and agriculture. Agricultural cooperation is seen as particularly significant given Brazil’s status as a global agricultural powerhouse with advanced technology, a factor critical to Korea’s food security. In addition, the leaders agreed to broaden collaboration in future-oriented industries such as space, defense and aviation, further expanding the scope of the bilateral partnership.