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Brazil's Lula set for 3-day state visit to Korea for bilateral summit

Published: 12 Feb. 2026, 16:41

SARAH KIM
[email protected]

Korean President Lee Jae Myung, right, chats with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during their first bilateral talks on the margins of the G7 summit in Alberta, Canada, on June 17, 2025. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will make a three-day state visit to Korea later this month for a summit with President Lee Jae Myung to elevate bilateral ties, the Blue House announced Thursday.

Lula will visit from Feb. 22 and 24 at the invitation of Lee, marking the first state visit to Korea made by a Brazilian leader in 21 years. The two leaders are scheduled to hold a summit meeting, a signing ceremony for memorandums of understanding and a state banquet on Feb. 23.

"Through their summit, the two leaders plan to strengthen substantive cooperation in various areas, including trade and investment, climate change, energy, space, defense industry, science and technology, agriculture, education, culture and people-to-people exchanges, to elevate bilateral relations to the next level," the Blue House said in statement.

The two leaders first met on the margins of the Group of Seven, or G7, summit in Canada in June last year. Lee and Lula especially bonded over their shared childhood experiences working in factories and experiencing workplace injuries.

Lee invited Lula to visit Korea during their meeting at the Group of 20, or G20, summit in South Africa last November.

President Lee Jae Myung, right, greets Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Nov. 22, 2025. [YONHAP]

The Brazilian leader will be the first state guest to be received at the Blue House since Lee moved the presidential office back to the old compound in central Seoul in December last year. Lula made a state visit to Korea in 2005, during his first term as president.

Lee's office noted that the two leaders "share an emotional bond, having both overcome personal adversity, and put an emphasis on social integration and pragmatism."

It added that "their shared national philosophy is expected to serve as a significant catalyst for further strengthening bilateral relations.

Brazil was the first Latin American country to establish diplomatic ties with Korea in 1959. Brazil is Korea's largest trade and investment partner in South America and home to a Korean community of some 50,000 people, the Blue House said.

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]