On March 21, 2015, a high-ranking delegation of the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s National Assembly headed by its Speaker Chung Ui-hwa left Ho Chi Minh City, successfully concluding their official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung.

This is the first official visit to Vietnam of a RoK senior official in 2015 and it is also the first foreign high-ranking delegation that arrived and worked at the new National Assembly House in Hanoi.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung welcomed, held talks and hosted a reception for his RoK counterpart Chung Ui-hwa. Speaker of the RoK National Assembly Chung Ui-hwa paid courtesy visits to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and State President Truong Tan Sang.

During their talks, leaders of the Party, State and National Assembly of Vietnam applauded RoK’s official visit to the country in the context of when the bilateral relations see positive developments and Vietnam is preparing for the 132nd Inter-Parliamentary Union General Assembly (IPU-132).

The leaders appreciated the two countries’ official announcement to conclude the negotiations of the Vietnam-RoK free trade agreement in December, 2014, that provides favourable conditions to reach a two-way trade turnover of 70 billion dollars by 2020.

The two sides pledged to continue  enhancing cooperation between the two National Assemblies in sharing legislative experiences and supervising the implementation of the bilateral agreements; making a contribution to intensifying the two countries’ strategic cooperation partnership.

On the occasion, RoK National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa had a number of activities, such as paying tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his Mausoleum, visiting the Presidential Palace Historical Site where President Ho Chi Minh lived and worked; meeting with Korean people living and working in Vietnam; visiting the Korean International School in Hanoi; and visiting Ha Long Bay – a World Natural Heritage Site.

He also toured RoK enterprises operating in Vietnam; met with students from the Ho Chi Minh University of Social Sciences and Humanities and had a working session with Ho Chi Minh City’s leaders before wrapping up his official visit to Vietnam.

VNA/VNP