President Lee Tells Prime Minister Meloni, "We Should Have Met Italy at the FIFA World Cup Finals"

[Financial News, Rome, Italy = Choi Jong-geun]President Lee Jae Myung, who is on a state visit to Italy, held a summit with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on the 12th local time. The two countries decided to upgrade their relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed on the "Korea-Italy Strategic Action Plan for 2026-2030."
In his opening remarks at the expanded meeting, President Lee said, "It is a pity that we should have met Italy at the FIFA World Cup finals." He was responding to Meloni's congratulations on South Korea national football team's opening victory at the World Cup during the official luncheon meeting held at Villa Doria Pamphilj, the Italian prime minister's residence.
Prime Minister Meloni welcomed President Lee's visit to Italy and emphasized that, following her own trip to South Korea in January, she was pleased that President Lee had come as Italy's first state guest of the year, just five months later.
In response, President Lee expressed his gratitude for Meloni's hospitality and her congratulations on the national team's victory. He also said he was pleased to hold a third meeting with Meloni, following their talks in September last year and January this year, and that they had reached a deep understanding on the future direction of bilateral ties. He added that he hoped this meeting would serve as another starting point for a new era of cooperation between the two countries.
President Lee said, "Prime Minister, I am glad to see you again. It has been three days since I arrived in Italy, and it feels very meaningful. Italians and Koreans are emotionally similar and get along well."
He added, "We discussed last time how important a rules-based international order is, and I hope we can work together to advance cooperation in areas such as free trade and multilateralism."
The two leaders agreed to broaden people-to-people exchanges so that the number of exchanges could reach 1.5 million by 2034, when the two countries mark the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations. They also decided to create an environment in which exchanges between companies in trade and investment can become more active.
President Lee stressed, "It seems necessary to establish a new framework for cooperation, which is why I believe the development of bilateral relations is even more meaningful. We are complementary to each other, and through our cooperation we can create synergies." He added that they had recently held detailed discussions on defense, satellites, space, and advanced industries, and that these efforts could help the two sides support each other more effectively.
He went on to say, "There is actually a great deal that we can do for each other. I hope we can build a South Korea that can help Italy, and an Italy that can help South Korea."
Meanwhile, South Korea and Italy decided to upgrade their relationship to a special strategic partnership and adopted the "Korea-Italy Strategic Action Plan for 2026-2030." Taking into account South Korea's role as chair of the Group of Twenty (G20) in 2028, the two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation on multilateral platforms, including the G20, and to work together to promote partnerships among the G7 in support of rules-based international trade, supply chain resilience, and artificial intelligence (AI) governance.
In the economic field, the two countries agreed to promote cooperation in advanced technology industries, including semiconductors, critical raw materials, and automobile manufacturing, through measures such as establishing joint coordination committees. They also decided to support the implementation of the EU–South Korea Free Trade Agreement and maximize opportunities arising from the Korea-EU Digital Trade Agreement. In addition, the two governments signed four MOUs: the Memorandum of Understanding on Advanced Science and Technology and ICT Cooperation, the Development Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding, the Social Solidarity Economy MOU, and the MOU on Cooperation in the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise and Small Business Sector.


cjk@fnnews.com Choi Jong-geun Reporter