RoK President's Vietnam visit to further promote comprehensive strategic partnership

It will be the first State visit to Vietnam by the RoK President, and Vietnam is the first Southeast Asian country that the leader will visit since he took office in May 2022.

In an interview recently granted to the press, Oh said this will be an occasion for Vietnamese and Korean leaders to share views on orientations and set forth visions for the bilateral ties. It will also be an opportunity for them to reach consensus on an action plan to effectively realise the Comprehensive strategic partnership and further develop the bilateral relationship that has been developing strongly and fruitfully over the past three decades.

According to the ambassador, economy has been the most important cooperation area between the two nations over the past years. The two countries have been effectively working together in this field, utilising the most efficient approaches and forms to mutually support and complement each other.

During this visit, over 200 Korean enterprises, including executives of five leading Korean groups, will accompany President Yoon. It is the highest number of businesses participating in a president's visit to a foreign country in recent times, demonstrating the rapidly growing and impressive economic, investment, and trade cooperation between the two nations.

Looking back on the past time, Oh said the bilateral investment cooperation has primarily focused on the fields of manufacturing and processing. However, both governments and businesses of the two countries have recently recognised the importance of identifying new projects and areas of cooperation, such as climate change response, environment, digital transformation, smart city development, and energy transition. It is expected that there will be the presence of many Korean enterprises related to these fields in the visit.

The RoK Government expects that through this visit, the bilateral collaboration in diplomacy, defence and culture will also be stepped up, she said, expressing her hope that Vietnam and the RoK will further enhance coordination at multilateral forums to contribute to stability, peace and prosperity in the region and the world.

Asked about Vietnam’s position in the RoK’s strategic foreign policy priorities, the diplomat said the administration of President Yoon has outlined a new diplomatic strategy with the goal of becoming a central global player to contribute to peace and prosperity in the region and the world.

In the implementation of the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Korean-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI) initiated by the Korean Government, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an important partner of the RoK. Especially, Vietnam plays a crucial role in tightening the ASEAN-RoK relations and bridging ASEAN with the RoK.

According to the diplomat, the RoK-Vietnam relations are witnessing strong development in many fields, especially in economy, diplomacy and people-to-people exchanges.

She hoped that in the future, the RoK will engage in discussions and exchanges with Vietnam to further boost comprehensive cooperation in various spheres such as economy, security, culture, people-to-people exchange and official development assistance (ODA).

The ambassador affirmed that the President's upcoming visit will carry another important message, which is the continued determination of both countries to enhance their relationship for a better future that brings benefits to their people, with a focus placed on the promotion of people-to-people exchanges and the building of practical support policies for their younger generations.