RoK President arrives in Hanoi

Hanoi, The Gulf Observer: President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee arrived in Hanoi on Thursday morning, beginning their three-day State visit to Vietnam at the invitation of President Vo Van Thuong.

Welcoming the RoK delegation at Noi Bai International Airport were Chairman of the President’s Office Le Khanh Hai, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Tran Sy Thanh, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu, Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Nguyen Vu Tung, and RoK Ambassador to Vietnam Oh Young Ju.

The delegation accompanying President Yoon during his official visit to Vietnam includes Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung Ho, Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang Yang, Minister of Employment and Labour Lee Jung Sik, among many others.

This is the first State visit to Vietnam by President Yoon, and Vietnam is also the first Southeast Asian country that he has visited since he took office in May 2022.

It takes place in the context that the bilateral relationship was upgraded from a strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership in December 2022 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Vietnam and the RoK established diplomatic ties on December 22, 1992. At present, the RoK is one of Vietnam’s leading important partners.

Currently, the RoK is Vietnam’s largest foreign direct investor with total registered capital of US$82 billion, the country’s second largest Official Development Assistance (ODA), and third biggest trading partner.

In the first quarter of 2023, bilateral trade turnover between the two countries reached $18.1 billion, while other areas of cooperation are also flourishing.

During the visit, both sides will focus on discussing measure to further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership, promote economic cooperation, expand investments that stabilise supply chains and enhance cooperation in other areas such as finance, banking, digital transformation, and human resource training.

Vietnam and the RoK will also discuss international and regional issues of mutual interest.

President Yoon is scheduled to hold talks with Vietnamese counterpart Vo Van Thuong, meet with senior leaders of Vietnam, and attend the Vietnam-RoK Business Forum, among other activities.