hankyoreh

President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea embraces Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as the latter arrives at the Blue House in Seoul for a welcome ceremony on Feb. 23, 2026, as part of his state visit to Korea. (Kim Tae-hyeong/Hankyoreh)

“I can’t wait to see you. Welcome, Lula, my eternal comrade!”

That was part of a lengthy message that Korean President Lee Jae Myung posted on social media early Monday morning before his summit with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The message, written in alternating Korean and Portuguese, was a tribute to Lula, the “boy laborer” whose “own body is proof that democracy is the most useful tool for social and economic development.”

Lee’s message of welcome was uncharacteristically warm and touching, even granting the red-carpet treatment given to the Brazilian president on his first state visit to Korea in 21 years.

At 10:35 am, Lula stepped out of a black car, and Lee greeted him with a warm embrace. Lee wore a gold tie reminiscent of the Brazilian flag.

The meeting between the two leaders, who had bonded over their past as child laborers during their previous two encounters, was warm and cordial throughout. While Lula signed the guestbook, Lee applauded and exclaimed, “It's art!” In turn, in the expanded meeting room, Lula handed Lee a booklet with the Korean leader’s face prominently printed on it, requesting an autograph.

Lee presented Lula, himself a former labor activist, with an English-language biography of Korean labor activist Jeon Tae-il, highlighting the two leaders’ shared roots as two former child factory workers. Remembering Lula's joke about “looking good thanks to Korean cosmetics,” Lee also prepared a Korean skin care set, along with a Korean national soccer team uniform, as the Brazilian leader is an avid soccer fan.

The ensuing state dinner was attended by major corporate leaders, including Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. In his dinner speech, Lee said, “From the moment I first met President Lula, it was as if I were meeting a long-time comrade and friend. I was truly delighted.” He then lifted his glass with a toast in Portuguese: “Saúde,” meaning “To health.”

During the banquet, Lula remarked that he felt that he and Lee were “brothers,” since learning the Korean leader’s life story. 

Highlighting similarities in their pasts, the Brazilian leader noted that he and Lee were each born into the poorest of families and began working at a very young age, and bear the scars of the industrial accidents that they experienced as boys to this day.

The leaders dined on fusion cuisine that blended Brazilian and Korean elements as well. The main course, prepared by the chef Yoo Yong-wook, who appeared on the second season of Netflix’s “Culinary Class Wars” under the moniker “Barbecue Lab Director,” was a modern interpretation of Korean-style galbi, a marinated hanwoo beef short rib, and Brazilian-style churrasco. 

Following the banquet, the presidential couples had a more casual chicken-and-beer summit featuring Korean fried chicken and Brazilian chicken dishes — chosen to highlight the fact that Korea imports around 80% of its chicken from Brazil. 

Toward the end of the program, the leaders heard a reading of the poem “Mãos Dadas” (“Holding Hands”) by the Brazilian poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade. The poem, which speaks to solidarity among workers, is known to be a favorite of Lula’s. 

The first ladies of Korea and Brazil, Kim Hea-kyung and Rosangela Lula da Silva, also spent the day building rapport. The two first ladies had spent time together at Gwangjang Market in Seoul on Saturday, where they had chosen fabric at a hanbok dressmaker. On Monday, Kim presented the finished hanbok, as well as a pale pink binyeo and dwigoji — two forms of traditional hair pins — norigae accessory and traditional silk shoes as gifts to Lula da Silva. 

By Shin Hyeong-cheol, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]