Peru's Big Thumbs Up for South Korea Joining the Pacific Alliance

So, on July 28th, Peru had this big bash in Seoul to celebrate its 203rd birthday (yes, they're that old!). They had this shindig at the fancy Four Seasons Hotel in Jongno-gu, and it was basically a love letter to South Korea about how much they want them to join the Pacific Alliance.

Peru's Independence Day is a big deal because it's when they said bye-bye to the Spanish in 1821. At the party, Peru's Ambassador, Paul Duclos, talked about how much they're rooting for South Korea to become part of their cool club, the Pacific Alliance. He was like, "Peru's totally behind Korea's dream to be an associated state in the Pacific Alliance."

Now, the Pacific Alliance is this group of countries - think of it as a bunch of buddies with their own clubhouse - and the members are Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. They all hang out on the Pacific Ocean. South Korea's been watching from the sidelines since 2014, but they've got a pretty sweet deal going with them already. If they join up, they can make new trade deals with Mexico and be even better friends with the others.

Some smarty-pants think that if Korea gets in, they'll be able to do more business with both the U.S. and Latin America, which is like killing two birds with one stone. They'd get to sell more stuff, make smarter investments, and work together more with their Asian neighbors.

And guess what? Ambassador Duclos also thanked Korea for having their back in the OECD Council. That's like the cool kids' table of the economic world, and Korea helped Peru get an invite.

They talked about all the cool stuff they've been doing together, like when Peru’s Foreign Affairs Minister Javier Gonzalez-Olaechea and some other big shots met at the Korea-LAC Forum. It's like a friendship summit where they chat about important stuff and make big plans.

Oh, and get this - Duclos spilled the beans that there's going to be a big meeting in Busan in November 2024 about a deal to fight plastic pollution. That's right, Peru's got a plan, and they want everyone to get on board.

The party had some rad Peruvian music too, which really set the mood.

So, as Korea keeps trying to make friends with everyone and be a big deal on the world stage, they're counting on Peru and the Pacific Alliance to help them out. And you know what? Everyone's pretty excited about what's going to happen next.

If you want more juicy details on countries playing nice and holding hands around the globe, keep checking our blog.