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President Yoon expressed his hope to build a core mineral partnership with Chile, the world’s largest lithium reserve holder, as South Korea is a powerhouse in secondary batteries.
This was the first summit meeting between President Yoon and President Boric, held in San Francisco, United States, on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
The two leaders reaffirmed that South Korea and Chile are key cooperation countries in Central and South America, sharing universal values. They agreed to strengthen cooperation in various fields, including defense and security, core minerals such as lithium, trade and investment, infrastructure, and operation and joint research of Antarctic bases.
According to the Presidential Office, Chile is a mineral-rich country with the world’s largest reserves of lithium, a key material for secondary batteries. It ranks second as a lithium import target country for South Korea, following China.
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President Yoon mentioned that the ‘Korea-Chile Antarctic Cooperation Center’ was established in February at the Chilean Antarctic Research Institute in Punta Arenas, which is also the hometown of President Boric. He suggested, “Let’s expand cooperation such as supporting the operation of the Antarctic Sejong Science Station and exploring Antarctic joint research projects based on this center.”
President Yoon also asked President Boric for support for the 2030 Busan World Expo.
President Boric said, “As Chile, we highly value our cooperation with South Korea, a gateway to the Asia-Pacific region,” and expressed his hope that “the improved negotiations of the Korea-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which marks its 20th anniversary this year, will be successfully concluded and trade between the two countries will expand further.”
He added, “I look forward to strengthening strategic cooperation between the two countries in areas such as supply chain cooperation for responding to global complex crises, energy and resources, and climate change.”
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