During his reception for RoK Defence Minister of the Song Young-moo in Hanoi on June 4, the PM held that the RoK official’s visit will contribute to realising agreements reached by senior leaders of the two countries during the Vietnam visit by RoK President Moon Jae-in in March 2018.

He said that over the past 25 years, the Vietnam-Rok friendship and partnership has been growing in a strong, extensive and practical manner, especially in economics, trade and investment.

The RoK has become the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam, he noted.

Lauding the outcomes of the talks between the two countries’ defence ministers, PM Phuc hailed cooperation results between the two Defence Ministries over the past years.

For his part, Minister Song said that the RoK considers Vietnam as the leading partner in its “New Southern Policy,” holding that defence cooperation will help boost economic partnership, fulfilling the target of 100 billion USD in two-way trade by 2020.

The guest spoke highly of Vietnam’s stance on peace on the Korean Peninsula, clarifying that the RoK also pays great attention to the aviation and maritime freedom in the East Sea, as the majority of RoK exported goods are transported through the marine route.

He affirmed that a regular dialogue channel with the Vietnamese side is always maintained, adding that the RoK is willing to coordinate with Vietnam in the area of defence.

PM Phuc welcomed efforts of the RoK in promoting dialogue and peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

Vietnam also highly values the “New Southern Policy” of the RoK Government, which places Vietnam as a key partner, he stated, pledging that Vietnam is ready to help foster the ASEAN-RoK relations.

The Vietnamese PM also expressed his hope that the RoK continues supporting Vietnam’s viewpoint in building the East Sea into an area of peace, cooperation and friendship.

He lauded the two defence ministries’ signing of a statement on joint vision on defence cooperation to 2030, suggesting that the two sides work out measures to effectively implement the document.

The two sides should strengthen cooperation in personnel training, defence industry and technology transfer, while speeding up affiliation in ODA projects to deal with war consequences in Vietnam, he proposed.

The PM also ask the two ministries to share experience in joining UN peacekeeping operations, while supporting and coordinating with each other in multilateral forums.-VNA