Vietnam looks toward comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with RoK

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son made the statement during a meeting held on February 9 with RoK President Moon Jae-in as part of his official visit to the RoK. He will also attend the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)-run Southeast Asia Regional Programme (SEARP) ministerial meeting from February 9 to February 11 at the invitation of his RoK counterpart Chung Eui-yong and Mathias Cormann, secretary general of the OECD.

President Moon conveyed his greetings to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and other senior leaders of Vietnam. He welcomed Minister Son’s official visit to the RoK, considering it to be an important event that opens the 30th anniversary of both nation’s diplomatic relations.

President Moon affirmed that the RoK always regards the nation as a key partner in carrying out the New Southern Policy, whilst also voicing his hope that the two sides will soon upgrade their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

He therefore suggested continuing to create favourable conditions for Korean businesses to operate in Vietnam, especially investing in infrastructure and finance, as well as large-scale projects, whilst simultaneously strengthening co-ordination between the two countries regarding regional and international issues of shared concern.

The Korean President went on to laud Vietnam’s co-ordinating role in the RoK-ASEAN relations during the 2021 to 2024 period, while saying that the visit of the Vietnamese Foreign Minister will contribute to promoting greater development of relations between the RoK and Vietnam, as well as with ASEAN in general.

In response, Minister Son congratulated President Moon on the achievements that the RoK has recorded in recent times, especially in both effective response to the pandemic and socio-economic development.

He also affirmed the country’s recognition of great importance to and its desire to further develop relations with the RoK, in which the focus is on competently implementing activities aimed at celebrating the 30th anniversary of bilateral ties and upgrading relations into to a comprehensive strategic partnership this year.

The Vietnamese Minister went on to express his hopes that both nations would maintain regular high-level exchanges and meetings, thereby creating a favourable political environment, effectively deploying mechanisms aimed at expanding co-operation. This will be seen in the fields of economy, trade, investment, and post-pandemic recovery towards raising the two countries' trade turnover to US$100 billion by 2023.

He also emphasized the necessity of strengthening co-operation in culture, education, tourism, labour, people-to-people exchanges, boosting closer co-ordination in supporting each other's citizens, and continuing to maintain co-ordination at multilateral forums.

Minister Son affirmed that the nation will fulfill its co-ordinating role in ASEAN - RoK relations during the 2021 to 2024 period in order to develop the relationship between ASEAN and the RoK in a more substantive and effective manner.

He also stated his wish that Vietnam and the RoK would continue to co-ordinate and show a positive stance on maintaining peace, stability, and legal order at sea, along with respecting freedom of navigation and overflight. This is in addition to settling disputes in the East Sea through peaceful measures on the basis of international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982.

Moving forward, the Vietnamese diplomat hopes that the two sides will provide continued support for the building of a practical and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law and UNCLOS 1982.