Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has proposed Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the Republic of Korea’s Yonhap News Agency to continue strengthening multi-dimensional cooperative ties and make more contributions to promoting the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) meets with Park No-hwang, President and Chief Executive Officer of Yonhap

He made the remarks at a reception for Park No-hwang, President and Chief Executive Officer of Yonhap, in Hanoi on February 9. 

The Prime Minister hailed the cooperative outcomes between the two news agencies, saying that the expansion of the bilateral collaboration has helped increase mutual understanding between the two peoples.

As a partner of Vietnam News Agency - a leading press agency in Vietnam, Yonhap is expected to boost information on the culture, land, people and business environment in the Southeast Asian country, especially pertaining to remarkable accomplishments in the two countries’ relations, the PM said.

He asked the two sides to focus on news about outcomes and efforts in increasing competitive edge and improving investment climate in Vietnam so as to attract more RoK groups and businesses to inject capital in Vietnam, which is hoped to amount to 100 billion USD in the future.

The PM suggested Vietnam News Agency and Yonhap promptly provide news about achievements in the two countries’ relations as well as solutions to remove difficulties for the Vietnamese community in the RoK as well as the Korean community in Vietnam, contributing to elevating the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership to a new height.

President Park No-hwang said his ongoing visit to Vietnam aims to tighten the cooperative ties with Vietnam News Agency and contribute to the enhancement of Vietnam-RoK relationship.

He said that the RoK pays much attention to Korean-Vietnamese multi-cultural families, and the RoK government pledges to spare no effort to step up the comprehensive collaboration with Vietnam across the board.

He also briefed the PM about the positive outcomes of his talks with VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi, noting that the two sides signed a new agreement on professional cooperation, which will make it easier for the expansion of bilateral collaboration in providing accurate information on political issues, business environment, and dissemination of Vietnamese and Korean land and people.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said a large number of Vietnamese and Korean citizens are living in the respective countries. The Korean culture is strongly developing in Vietnam and the RoK is currently the second biggest foreign investor in the Southeast Asian nation.

Vietnam is focusing on refining its institution and improving business-investment environment and national competitiveness to enter the leading group in ASEAN.

Vietnam always welcomes and creates favourable conditions for foreign enterprises, including the RoK, to expand business in the long run, he affirmed.

He highlighted 2017 as a year of celebrating the 25th anniversary of Vietnam – RoK diplomatic relations.

Vietnam is going to host the APEC 2017 with around 200 meetings, including the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting as part of the APEC Week in the central coastal city of Da Nang, he said.

This will create an excellent opportunity for Vietnam News Agency and Yonhap to exchange information on APEC cooperation for sustainable, inclusive growth, innovation, and stronger economic connectivity in the region in the new era.

Vietnam News Agency, Yonhap step up cooperation

VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi (front, right) and Yonhap President and CEO Park No-hwang sign a cooperation agreement 

The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Yonhap News Agency will enhance the exchange of multimedia news, which is in line with the development trend of the press in the digital era.

This was agreed during the talks between VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi and Yonhap President and Chief Executive Officer Park No-hwang in Hanoi on February 9.

They also agreed to improve the quality of exchanged photos and help to promote their reporters’ and editors’ Vietnamese and Korean language skills.

VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi noted that both VNA and Yonhap have implemented cooperation agreements soundly, which involved the exchange of news and delegations, assistance to correspondents, and mutual support at multilateral press cooperation forums.

Loi considered news provided by Yonhap as an important source of information about the RoK and the Korean Peninsula.

He congratulated Yonhap on its election as Vice President of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) at the 16th OANA General Assembly, held in Azerbaijan last November, voicing the agency’s support for Yonhap to take on a more important role at the organisation and wishes for Yonhap’s continuous effective support at this forum.

Highlighting the growing cooperation between Vietnam and the RoK, the Yonhap President said his agency wants to continue fostering collaboration with VNA, thereby contributing to strengthening the two countries’ strategic cooperative partnership.

He also asked VNA to support the PyeongChang News Service Network (PNN), which is designed by Yonhap to serve the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics hosted by the RoK.

At the end of the talks, the VNA and Yonhap leaders signed a profession cooperation agreement and an agreement on the PNN membership.

The news agencies set up the cooperation relationship in 1994, which was also the year VNA opened a bureau in Seoul. Meanwhile, Yonhap sent correspondents to Hanoi in 2000. Both are members of the OANA Executive Board.

VNA