VZCZCXRO8673
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #1559/01 3391611
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 041611Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3021
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 7239
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0392
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 5961
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 7606
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 0745
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0154
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0970
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 8775
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 6952
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 3160
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 001559 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: DECEMBER 3, 2018 
TAGS: PREL EINV ETRD BR KS KN
SUBJECT: BRAZILIANS, KOREANS SAY RELATIONS GOOD, GETTING 
BETTER 
 
REF: A. SEOUL 2177 
     ¶B. BRASILIA 1486 
     ¶C. BRASILIA 1534 
     ¶D. BRASILIA 534 
     ¶E. BRASILIA 1407 
 
Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY POLITICAL COUNSELOR STEPHEN LISTON, REASON 
S 1.4 B AND D 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary.  The four-day visit to Brazil by Korean 
President Lee Myung-bak reaffirmed an already positive 
relationship characterized by a rapidly growing but 
unbalanced trade relationship, plans for modest exchanges in 
agricultural and mining technology, and very different views 
on UN reform.  Before the Brasilia summit, Lee led a trade 
mission to a Sao Paulo bilateral business forum. The ROK and 
GOB are still far apart on Brazil's top foreign policy 
priority of UNSC reform and a permanent Brazilian UNSC seat. 
Brazilian diplomats complained that Lee has a "businessman's 
profile" and does not like discussing political topics. 
President Lula agreed to visit South Korea in 2009.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited Brazil from 
November 17-20 with a trade mission of 35 Korean businessmen. 
 In Sao Paulo, he and the trade delegation participated in a 
bilateral business forum and met with state governor Serra. 
On November 19, Lee met with President Lula for talks about 
the bilateral relationship.  First Secretary Ricardo 
Portugal, Korea desk officer at Brazil's Ministry of External 
Relations, told poloff that the visit built on the good 
relationship between the two countries and there are few 
difficult points in the relationship, although they are very 
far apart on Brazil's aspiration for a permanent UNSC seat. 
Both Portugal and Dong Won Park, Economics Counselor of the 
Republic of Korea Embassy in Brasilia, told poloff that the 
only difficult part of the visit was preparing the joint 
communique's language on the United Nations.  Neither offered 
specifics of the divergent views, but Portugal said, "The 
Koreans don't even talk about UN reform, it was the hardest 
part of the talks, and preparing the communique's text on it 
was frustrating."  Brazil is attractive to Korea as a 
regional leader, a leader in south-south dialogues, and as an 
emerging global leader, Park explained, so expanding trade 
and strengthening friendship with Brazil are part of a broad 
effort to develop good relations with "middle powers"  (see 
also ref a).  Previous Brazil-Korea summits took place in 
2004 in Brazil, which coincided with the Chile APEC summit, 
and in 2005 in Seoul; on both occasions Lula met with 
then-president Roh Moo-hyun.  At this latest meeting, which 
coincided with the Peru APEC summit, President Lula agreed to 
visit South Korea in 2009. 
 
North Korea 
 
¶3.  (C) The joint communique states that the presidents 
discussed North Korea, and that both sides support the Six 
Party Talks and continuing dialogue.  Park said Brazil always 
consults with South Korea about North Korea, and confirmed 
that South Korea is pleased with Brazil's plans to open an 
embassy in Pyongyang next year (ref b) because it believes 
contact with Brazil could have a positive and moderating 
influence on North Korea.  Kyung Hung Cho, Korean Ambassador 
to Brazil told Correio Braziliense (leading Brasilia daily; 
11/19/08), "If (Brazil) in fact opens an embassy (in North 
Korea), it will be another incentive to the North Koreans to 
open their society to the world."  In the context of talks on 
North Korea, UN reform, and other topics, Portugal commented 
that President Lee, perhaps because of his business 
background, does not seem to like politics and it was harder 
to discuss politics with him than with Roh, who was very 
different.  His comments align with those of another 
Brazilian diplomat, who  recently commented that Korean 
diplomacy is "blunt and too rigid," and tends to "simplify 
excessively" (ref c). 
 
Trade and Investment 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The joint communique signaled that Brazil hopes for 
Korean investment in Brazilian infrastructure works such as a 
 
BRASILIA 00001559  002 OF 002 
 
 
high-speed train, dredging, and shipbuilding.  Korea already 
has major investments in Brazil in high technology (Samsung), 
automobiles (Hyundai), and ports technology at Suape, 
Pernambuco.  The two countries signed an MOU to establish a 
joint committee on trade and investment promotion.  Bilateral 
trade between Brazil and South Korea nearly tripled in the 
period 2002-07, growing from 1.91 to 5.43 billion dollars; by 
November 2008, two-way trade had reached 7.36 billion and 
could reach eight billion dollars by year's end (Brazilian 
Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Ministry 
statistics).  Top Korean exports to Brazil are electronics, 
LCD devices, and automobiles; top Brazilian exports to Korea 
are semi-finished iron and steel products, iron ore, and soy. 
 But there is a very large trade imbalance in South Korea's 
favor: for 2008 it had reached 2.23 billion dollars by 
November.  Korea desk officer Portugal said the trade 
imbalance makes the Brazilian business sector reluctant to 
engage the Koreans, but Counselor Park said the Korean 
president and his trade mission got an "enthusiastic 
reception" from Brazilian business interests.  Park said 
Brazil is very important to Korean trade: it is Korea's third 
largest Latin American trading relationship after Mexico and 
Chile, with which Korea has an FTA.  Portugal and Park also 
indicated that a trade disagreement over Brazilian meat 
exports to Korea was on the verge of being resolved. 
 
Doha Round 
 
¶5.  (U) The joint communique called for an "early conclusion" 
of the Doha round as a "key to the reinvigoration of the 
global economy" and for more engagement by WTO members to 
resolve Agriculture and Non-Agricultural Market access issue 
by the end of the year. 
 
Memoranda of Understanding on Agriculture and Mining 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Brazil and ROK signed MOUs on agricultural 
cooperation and mining under which Brazil will open a 
cooperative research laboratory of the Brazilian agricultural 
research body EMBRAPA in Korea and Korea will open a Korean 
Rural Development Administration laboratory in Brazil. 
Portugal said the mining MOU, although undertaken by the 
presidents, concerns commercial interests, the Brazilian 
Mining Association and the Korea Resources Corporation, and 
is therefore mainly private in nature. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Comment.  Still maturing, this relationship is 
clearly on the right track, as evidenced in particular by 
Brazil's consultations with ROK at every step of its 
engagement with the DPRK, and a demonstrated will on both 
sides to ramp up trade and investment.  While the bilateral 
trading profile resembles that of Brazil and China (ref d) -- 
Brazil exports raw materials and imports manufactured goods 
-- the investment profile is quite different.  Koreans have 
made large investments in Brazil, such as a Samsung factory 
in Manaus, a Hyundai factory in Sao Paulo state, and there 
will probably be other such large investments in the future, 
which should continue to foster good bilateral relations. 
SOBEL