President Lee Jae-myung visited Canada on the 7th (local time) to attend the Group of Seven (G7) summit and held talks with Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, the President of Mexico, the Presidential Office noted. Mexico is noted as the first country in Latin America to establish a 'strategic partnership' with Korea and is also considered its largest trading partner.

President Lee Jae-myung smiles during the G7 and invited countries group photo on the 17th (local time) at the G7 summit held in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. From the back row, clockwise: Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, President Lee, Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, Chair Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, Emmanuel Macron, President of France, Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico. /Courtesy of Yonhap News Agency

On this day, President Lee met with President Sheinbaum and said, "Let us work together to strengthen the relationship between our two countries, including economic cooperation," while inviting President Sheinbaum to the APEC summit to be held in Gyeongju this year. He also suggested that the two countries should continuously strengthen cooperation at both the bilateral and multilateral levels based on their strategic partnership.

In response, President Sheinbaum mentioned that there is a Kia factory in Mexico and said, "I highly appreciate the active investments of Korean corporations in Mexico" and added, "I look forward to expanding cooperation with Korea in fields such as advanced technology." She also expressed gratitude for President Lee's invitation and wished for the successful hosting of the APEC summit.

In particular, President Lee asked about the secret behind President Sheinbaum's high approval ratings. According to foreign media outlets such as AFP and Al Jazeera, President Sheinbaum, who took office in October last year, has received over 80% in recent public opinion polls on government performance.

President Sheinbaum reportedly answered, "I meet directly with citizens and engage in dialogue three to four days a week, and I continue discussions with the opposition," according to Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung. She then stated, "I hope to further strengthen economic cooperation with Korea."