South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva agreed on Monday to upgrade bilateral ties to a “strategic partnership” and signed a series of agreements aimed at expanding trade, investment and sectoral cooperation, during Lula’s first state visit to Seoul in 21 years. The two leaders signed a government-level accord on trade and production integration and oversaw the exchange of nine memorandums of understanding covering economic and financial dialogue, science and technology, agriculture, health, small and medium-sized enterprises, regulatory cooperation and law enforcement.

The leaders also discussed restarting negotiations between South Korea and the