President Lee Visits Mexico’s ‘Little Seoul,’ High-Fives Stray Kids Fans

[Financial News, Mexico City, Mexico — By Choi Jong-geun]President Lee Jae-myung, who is on a state visit to Mexico, visited Zona Rosa in Mexico City on the 25th (local time), an area known as “Little Seoul.” There, he greeted members of the Korean community and engaged with Mexican citizens.
According to Ahn Gwi-ryeong, deputy spokesperson for the Blue House, Zona Rosa is one of Mexico City’s major commercial districts. Koreans began settling there in earnest in the 1990s, naturally forming a Korean commercial district with restaurants, grocery stores, side-dish shops, hair salons and cafés.
Local Korean community members held Taegeukgi flags and responded, “Welcome,” while President Lee and Kim Hye-kyung waved and shook hands with them.
Mexican citizens also warmly welcomed the presidential couple by calling out “Hello” in Korean and “Welcome to Mexico” in English. President Lee and Kim Hye-kyung responded in Spanish with “Hola,” meaning “hello,” and posed for photos.
One Mexican citizen in particular showed great interest in Korean culture, saying, “I came to Zona Rosa to eat Korean food before going to the Stray Kids concert tonight,” and expressed delight at meeting the presidential couple.
They also met young fans wearing Stray Kids T-shirts and holding light sticks, and the presidential couple smiled and exchanged high-fives with them.


The presidential couple sampled guava, a tropical fruit being sold on the street, and tried tacos, a food representative of Mexico. Through these experiences, they encountered local food culture and came closer to the everyday lives of Mexican people, Deputy Spokesperson Ahn explained.
“It was a time to observe and encourage the everyday lives of Korean community members up close while broadening their understanding of Mexican culture and history through food and everyday spaces, and further strengthening the bond between the peoples of the two countries,” Deputy Spokesperson Ahn said.
Earlier, President Lee held a summit with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum at the National Palace in Mexico City the previous day. They agreed on the need to conclude a trade agreement between the two countries and decided to expand cooperation in the defense industry, using Mexico’s military modernization as an opportunity. They also agreed to work together to establish stable supply chains for key resources, including crude oil and critical minerals. The two countries concluded seven years of negotiations to revise their investment protection agreement and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on defense cooperation.
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