Vietnam- RoK forum marks 30 years of diplomatic ties

As part of his opening speech at the event, Bui Nhat Quang, president of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, noted that the two countries had elevated diplomatic ties set up back in 1992. Indeed, the relationship grew to a comprehensive co-operative partnership fit for the 21st century in 2001 before evolving into a strategic co-operative partnership in 2009.

The two sides are planning to lift bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership this year.

Highlighting the increasingly close and expanded relations, he holds the view that the two countries now boast fresh and promising opportunities for co-operation.

The numerous achievements of the 30-year relationship and similarities in terms of strategic interests will serve as an impulse for lifting joint ties to a level of a comprehensive strategic partnership, as well as cementing the countries’ connectivity for the sake of the two peoples. This will also contribute to other positive causes such as peace, stability, prosperity, co-operation, and development in the region and the world as a whole, according to Quang.

Nguyen Thi Thanh, chairwoman of the Vietnam - RoK Parliamentary Friendship Group, said the RoK is one of the nation’s leading partners in most fields, while the country represents a fast growing and dynamic economy and is a focal partner of the RoK in its New Southern Policy.

In line with this, both sides should create new driving forces and devise appropriate co-operation orientations and measures in order to further intensify their close-knit connections, Thanh added. She recommended increasing high-level contact, improving the effectiveness of dialogue and co-operation mechanisms, and continuing to boost collaboration in politics, diplomacy, defence, security, economy, science - technology, energy, health care, culture, education, tourism, and people-to-people, and locality-to-locality exchanges.

In response, RoK Ambassador Park Noh-wan affirmed that both nations have been co-operating successfully over the past three decades and that they have long regarded each other as partners of leading importance in traditional fields such as trade, investment, development co-operation, and tourism.

Most notably, both sides are in the process of building close partnerships in new fields such as security, economy, health care, climate change response, and defence. As a result, they are in the process of planning to take bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership this year, he stated.

The forum featured three sessions that discussed the 30-year co-operation relationship, the countries’ strategic co-operation in terms of the new international economic and political context, and the prospects, opportunities, and measures that exist for partnership elevation.

Initiated back in 2012, the Vietnam - RoK Forum for the Future is widely viewed as an important dialogue channel for the two countries’ policymakers, experts, and scholars.