This is the first visit to the RoK by a senior Vietnamese leader since the two countries upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership in December 2022 and the first visit to the RoK by Chinh in his capacity as head of the Government of Vietnam.

During the June 30-July 3 stay, PM Pham Minh Chinh held talks with his Korean counterpart Han Duck-soo, and witnessed the exchange of cooperation documents signed between ministries and agencies of the two countries. He met with President Yoon Suk-yeol, and National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik; attended and delivered speeches at three forums on economics, labour, tourism and culture; and attended and made speeches at two seminars with leading Korean economic organizations and with Korean experts and scientists in the fields of semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI).

Chinh also gave a policy speech at Seoul National University, called at the RoK’s largest mega semiconductor cluster, and received leaders of major Korean corporations. He called at the Vietnamese Embassy, met representatives of the Vietnamese community, and visited a Vietnamese-Korean multicultural family.

Ministers and leaders of localities accompanying the PM also had dozens of meetings and working sessions with their counterparts.

Both sides issued a joint press release, highlighting marked progress in Vietnam-RoK relations, especially bilateral cooperation in all areas from politics - diplomacy, trade, investment, science - technology, to culture, tourism, labour, people-to-people exchanges, as well as new areas of cooperation. They vowed to implement high-level agreements to raise the comprehensive strategic partnership to new heights.

RoK leaders affirmed that Vietnam plays an important role in the RoK’s foreign policy in the region, including the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI).

Meanwhile, Chinh affirmed that Vietnam supports the RoK’s development policies and goals, including the “Global Pivotal State” policy.

The two sides were of the same view that economic cooperation is one of the most important pillars in bilateral relations. They agreed to jointly deploy specific measures to soon raise bilateral trade turnover to US$100 billion by 2025 and US$150 billion by 2030 in a balanced and sustainable direction. They also agreed to promote procedures to soon facilitate each other’s market access for Vietnamese grapefruits and Korean melons in 2024.

The Korean side considers Vietnam a strategic partner in its official development assistance cooperation (ODA). It will support capacity building for Vietnamese enterprises to participate more deeply in the production supply chain of Korean enterprises.

At the Vietnam – RoK Business Forum and the Discussion with leading Korean economic organizations on energy and finance, Chinh briefed them on Vietnam’s economic development, and suggested that Korean businesses continue to expand investment in Vietnam.

Businesses and localities of the two countries signed 23 cooperation documents in the fields of trade, investment, health care, education, semiconductors, and energy, as well as cooperation between Vietnamese localities and Korean businesses.

Notably, Chinh’s business trip opened up many opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in a number of new fields such as innovation, high technology, renewable energy, digital transformation, green transformation, and change. Climate response, semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI).

VOV