Friendship year highlights Vietnam-RoK relations

Vietnamese and Korea leaders have agreed to observe 2012 as the Year of Vietnam-RoK Friendship with a wide range of activities to celebrate the 20 anniversary the two nations' diplomatic ties.

Excerpts from VOV’s interview with RoK ambassador to Vietnam, Ha Chan-ho’s interview on the subject :

Reporter: Vietnam and the RoK will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in 2012. What is your assessment of bilateral cooperation in various fields?

Ambassador Ha Chan-ho: Vietnam-RoK relations are based on mutually beneficial cooperation. Over the past 19 years, their relationship has developed in economics, trade, investment, cooperation-development, and cross-cultural exchange. Following the strategic partnership established in 2009, State President Truong Tan Sang’s official visit to the RoK in 2011 marked a milestone for long-term relationship between the two countries in the next 20 years.

Vietnam has achieved outstanding economic gains over the past 20 years and Vietnam-RoK relations have also seen remarkable progress.

Ambassador Ha Chan-ho

At present, more than 2,000 Korean businesses are investing in Vietnam, employing thousands of Vietnamese workers. Approximately 100,000 people from each country are living in the other country and Vietnamese people are becoming neighbours or even family members of Koreans.

At a summit meeting in 2009, the two countries agreed to build their strategic partnership.

The RoK Embassy in Vietnam will make greater efforts to develop bilateral ties in all fields to their best advantage of the strategic partnership and facilitate Korean business investment in Vietnam for the benefit of economic development in both countries.

Reporter: Vietnam and the RoK share cultural and historic similarities. In your opinion, what should they do to further develop their relationship?

Ambassador Ha Chan-ho: That’s right. The RoK and Vietnam share many cultural and historical similarities as they have both defeated foreign invaders to gain national independence while accommodating diverse cultures, and they have learnt how to creatively adopt aspects of different cultures to create their own unique culture.

Our bilateral relations are based on a firm cultural foundation and age-old history, not just for immediate short term benefits. Therefore, we believe that the Vietnam RoK relationship will continue to develop steadily in a sustainable manner.

If the two sides pull out all the stops, their cooperation will be much more efficient. Joint activities to put the RoK’s Jeju Island and Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay on the list of the World’s Seven New Natural Wonders are a typical case in point.

Such close-knit ties to be sure, will be mutually beneficial and contribute to improving their international status.

In the 2012 Friendship Year, I hope there will be plenty of opportunities to promote cultural exchanges between the two countries. Although cross cultural exchanges have developed positively, not all people have proper understanding of each other country’s. Therefore, cultural activities need to be given a new lease of life.

Reporter: In the current context of global fluctuations, what are the advantages and disadvantages in developing bilateral relations?

Ambassador Ha Chan-ho: I think that global fluctuations will not affect the relationship between the two countries.

Top priorities in the development of bilateral relations will include boosting economic and trade cooperation, expanding diplomacy and coordinating security efforts as strategic partners. Greater attention should also be given to coping with global challenges such as climate change and international credit instability. However, I assume that these challenges, in return, will open up opportunities for cooperation between Vietnam and the RoK.

Reporter: What do you think about the Doi Moi (renewal) process in Vietnam? And what has impressed you most during your term in the country?

Ambassador Ha Chan-ho: What has impressed me most is Vietnamese industriousness and unique self-confidence. Like the RoK in the late 1990s, Vietnam has had to deal with the consequences of the financial crisis by making drastic reforms to produce breakthroughs in the following periods. I believe that, its confidence and lessons learnt through the renewal process will serve as a solid foundation for further Vietnam’s economic reforms in the future.

After 20 years of national renewal, the Vietnamese Government has taken strong measures to iron out snags in State-owned enterprises, curb runaway inflation and restructure the banking and financial system.

Vietnam is now on the right track to keeping the national economy purring along to full advantage of the years to come.

I think Vietnam is experiencing similar development as did the RoK two decades ago and the RoK is willing to share its accumulated experience with Vietnam to promote its process of national industrialization and modernization.

Reporter: Thank you very much!