South Korean business leaders used President Lee Jae-myung's state visit to Mexico to lay out new investment and cooperation plans directly to President Claudia Sheinbaum. SK chairman Chey Tae-won said SK Bioscience could participate in Mexico's national vaccination program and help transfer vaccine quality-control capabilities. LG chairman Koo Kwang-mo said the group wants to expand investment in vehicle electronics, autonomous-driving systems and other businesses while widening its production footprint beyond the five Mexican states where it already operates.
The meeting also gave Korean companies a channel to raise practical barriers to investment. A senior South Korean presidential-office official said participating executives discussed tariff and financial-system difficulties and asked the Mexican side for regulatory improvements. Mexican officials listened to those concerns and indicated that follow-up talks would continue. The Korean companies, for their part, framed the proposed expansion as a contribution to Mexico's broader industrial-policy agenda rather than only as a request for market access.
Nine Korean business leaders attended, including executives from SK, LG, LS, Samsung Electronics, Kia, POSCO International, Doosan Bobcat, Amorepacific and Nongshim. The immediate test will be whether the meeting produces company-level projects, especially in vaccines, auto electronics and manufacturing. Any later commitments will matter more than the diplomatic setting because they would show whether the state visit translates into new Korean capital, production or technology transfer in Mexico.