Tour of the U.S. and Mexico concludes... UN emphasizes ‘peace regime multilateral dialogue’
The issue of ‘prisoner repatriation’ was also discussed on social media… 'Term of office and reform theory' mentioned at compatriot meeting hot topic
(Mexico City = Yonhap News) Reporters Lim Hyeong-seop and Seol Seung-eun = President Lee Jae-myung concluded his 5-night, 7-day tour of the United States and Mexico and returned home on the 26th (local time).
In the United States, the Korean government's blueprint for peace policy on the Korean Peninsula was introduced to the international stage through a speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
With the 'surprise meeting' with US President Donald Trump being held during his visit to the US, attention is being paid to whether the stalled security negotiations between Korea and the US will pick up speed.
In Mexico, efforts were made to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, with negotiations to revise the investment guarantee agreement being concluded for the first time in seven years, and the Blue House is assessing that this has solidified a bridgehead for Korean companies to advance into Central and South America.
◇ Korea-US talks held amid stalled security negotiations… Will there be a breakthrough?
Among the events in the United States, which was his first visit, the Korea-US summit received the most attention.
At the time of departure, it was unclear whether the meeting would be successful. However, with the recent results in strategic investment negotiations between the two countries, the mood has become more forward-looking, and it appears that it has eventually led to a pedestal between the leaders.
At the meeting, President Lee brought up a number of security negotiation issues, including cooperation in the construction of nuclear-powered submarines and nuclear energy agreements including enrichment and reprocessing.
In addition, the Korean government actively expressed its position that it wants the transfer of wartime operational control to be completed as quickly as possible.
In particular, the Blue House explained that this was the first time that the transfer of wartime operational control was discussed at the summit level between South Korea and the United States.
Considering that the security negotiations between Korea and the United States have been going through quite a bit of trouble, some are saying that the mere opportunity to overcome the situation is a welcome development.
Now, it has become important to take advantage of the solid trend and achieve concrete results in security negotiations as soon as possible.
It appears that efforts will continue to narrow the distance between the two countries through the next ROK-US summit, which is expected to take place in Washington, or through high-level talks before that.
At the United Nations General Assembly, which was the main purpose of this trip, President Lee said, "We will quickly resume North Korea-US dialogue and lay the foundation for it to develop into dialogue between the parties to end the war on the Korean Peninsula and transition to a peace system."
President Lee previously mentioned 'dialogue between the parties to end the war' in his Liberation Day speech, but this time, his message can be seen as a step forward in that he made a direct proposal on the international stage while the parties involved were listening.
In relation to the energy supply chain crisis caused by the Hormuz incident, etc., a global energy supply chain solidarity was proposed, which was named 'Constructive Contributing Countries Solidarity'.
Accordingly, interest is also focused on what impact the discussion on 'solidarity with constructive contributing countries' will have when discussing a solution to the Hormuz crisis in the future.
◇ Expanding horizons of cooperation between Korea and Mexico… Performance of ‘Investment Guarantee Agreement’
In Mexico, where President Lee visited at the invitation of President Claudia Sheinbaum, he focused on expanding the horizons of economic cooperation between the two countries.
First, the two leaders adopted the '2026-2030 Korea-Mexico Joint Action Plan' document and decided to promote regular high-level exchanges between the two countries as well as to regularly hold high-level policy consultations at the vice-ministerial level between the two countries' foreign ministries.
In addition, negotiations on the revision of the ‘Agreement for Investment Promotion and Mutual Protection’ between the Korean and Mexican governments were concluded.
The Investment Protection Agreement is a treaty that stipulates protection norms for foreign investment for the purpose of protecting and increasing foreign investment in the investment host country. Accordingly, there are expectations that the conclusion of this negotiation will lead to an increase in mutual investment.
At a business forum held with businessmen from both countries, President Lee said, "It is clear that the Korea-Mexico trade agreement will become a solid foundation for further upgrading the economic cooperation between the two countries," and promised to work to speed up agreement discussions.
◇ Controversy over repatriation of North Korean prisoners to Ukraine… Remarks about ‘term of office and reform theory’ are also a hot topic.
During this trip, a dispute broke out as President Lee publicly criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for disclosing the repatriation of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.
In a post posted on
However, Ukraine is giving an explanation to the effect that they 'did not promise to keep it secret', so attention is being paid to what direction the issue will take in the future.
At a meeting with Mexican compatriots, President Lee again mentioned issues related to his term, which became a hot topic.
President Lee said, "I will take good care of the Republic of Korea at least while I am in office so that you will not worry about it. Even if it happens, I will never go beyond June 2, 2030," and repeatedly drew a line at the 'constitutional amendment theory for two consecutive terms' raised by some.
During the compatriot meeting, he also mentioned the methodology of reform, saying, "We need to exercise moderate restraint, but if we go too fast, too far, too hastily, we will face a reaction."
In this process, while mentioning the controversy over the abolition of the National Security Act during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, he said, "The ruling and opposition parties almost reached an agreement on deleting a few toxic provisions, but someone objected, saying, 'It should be abolished (in its entirety),'" and "Then, the other party ultimately opposed the abolition, so we couldn't even (delete the toxic provisions)."
Some interpretations were raised that this was a comment aimed at writer Yoo Si-min, who strongly advocated for the abolition of the National Security Act at the time.
