Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) on October 2 issued a Joint Statement during the visit to the RoK by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong from October 1-4.

Following is the full text of the Joint Statement.

“1. At the invitation of H.E. Park Geun-hye, President of the Republic of Korea (ROK), H.E. Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, visited Korea on October 1-4 , 2014. During the visit, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong held a Summit with President Park Geun-Hye on October 2 and attended the Official Dinner hosted by President Park on October 2.

2. President Park Geun-hye and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong noted with satisfaction the robust development of the bilateral relationship since the beginning of diplomatic relations in 1992, and underlined the need to comprehensively develop and further deepen the ROK-Vietnam Strategic Cooperative Partnership, established in 2009. In this regard, the Leaders expressed their commitment to intensify cooperation in various fields including politics and security, national defense, trade and economy, society and culture, as well as regional and international issues. In this respect, the Leaders agreed to seek measures for the further strengthening of the current inter-governmental committee to take bilateral cooperation to a higher level in the new period.

3. The Leaders agreed to reinforce senior-level exchanges between the governments, legislative bodies, and political parties of both countries, and encouraged the furtherance of existing channels of consultation to strengthen political-security cooperation and mutual trust. The Leaders also agreed to promote trade and investment by, inter alia, concluding the negotiation of ROK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement within the year 2014, and agreed to further expand and facilitate the implementation of on-going bilateral cooperation in labor, industry, agriculture, finance, and development projects as well as in large-scale infrastructure construction projects so as to effectively connect the two economies to support sustainable development in both countries. Both Leaders also recognized the importance of improving the investment climate for boosting mutual private investment. In this connection, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong appreciated the contribution of Korean companies towards Vietnam 's economic growth and expressed the willingness of the Vietnamese Government to create favourable conditions for expanding Korean business investment in Vietnam .

4. Sharing the view that people-to-people exchanges form the sturdy foundation of the development of bilateral relations, the Leaders agreed to augment exchanges in various areas including education, science, culture, sports, and tourism. In addition, both Leaders agreed to redouble efforts to enhance the security and welfare of nationals residing in each other's nation. The Leaders noted in particular the importance of multicultural families, as a bridge between the two peoples, and agreed to make joint efforts in encouraging future generations of multicultural families to play a central role in the exchange of youths between the two countries.

5. The ROK expressed grave concern over the DPRK's threats to conduct another nuclear test and its recent ballistic missile launches, and made it clear that the DPRK's possession of nuclear weapons cannot be tolerated, and further strongly urged the DPRK to take the path of peace and prosperity by abandoning its nuclear program. In this regard, the two sides reaffirmed the ROK-Vietnam Joint Statement in 2013 and called upon the DPRK to fully comply with relevant UNSC resolutions as well as its commitments under the September 19 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks. Vietnam reaffirmed support for the ROK's Initiatives to promote dialogue, reduce tension, establish sustainable peace towards peaceful reunification on the Korean Peninsula and to promote peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia .

The leaders emphasised the importance of maintaining peace, stability, and ensuring maritime security and safety, and freedom of navigation, and recognized the need for parties concerned to resolve issues in a peaceful manner in compliance with international law, to implement the 2002 DOC, and to work towards the early adoption of the COC.

6. The Leaders shared the view that the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit, to be held on December 11-12 in Busan in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the ASEAN-ROK dialogue relations, will be an important milestone promoting substantive development of the ASEAN-ROK Strategic Partnership. Vietnam announced that Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will attend the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit and pledged its support for a successful Summit . The ROK expressed its appreciation for Vietnam 's cooperation.

7. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong expressed his gratitude to President Park Geun-hye and the Korean people for their solemn, friendly and thorough reception and invited President Park Geun-hye to visit Vietnam again at a convenient time. President Park Geun-hye expressed her sincere thanks and accepted the invitation with pleasure.”

VNA/VNN