Peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and cooperation between the Republic of Korea (RoK) and five nations in the Mekong sub-region - Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam – were high on the agenda of the RoK-Mekong Peace Forum in Hanoi on May 10.

The forum was co-organised by the Institute for Northeast Asian Studies (INAS) under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) and the RoK’s National Unification Advisory Council.

In his remarks, Korean Ambassador to Vietnam Kim Do-hyun said unification, peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula has been the aspirations of not only people in the RoK and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), but also peace lovers around the world, including Vietnamese.  

Recalling the second DPRK-USA Summit in Hanoi last February, the diplomat said Vietnam has proven its intermediary role, significantly contributing to the process towards peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. 

Despite an array of unsettled issues and challenges, the summit has marked an important milestone in the dialogue between the two sides, he said. 

VASS Vice President Dr. Dang Xuan Thanh said this year’s forum looked into prospects and tasks in building peace on the Korean Peninsula and the enhancement of cooperation between the RoK and the Mekong sub-region, especially impacts of the RoK’s New Southern Policy on the development of collaboration for peace and prosperity between the RoK and Vietnam and other Mekong sub-regional countries. 

He expressed hope that the discussions will help enhance the strategic cooperation between Vietnam and the RoK, and the collaboration between the RoK and the Mekong sub-region, contributing to building peace, prosperity and sustainability on the Korean Peninsula and East Asia. 

The New Southern Policy is one of the President Moon Jae-in administration's main foreign policy objectives that follows the “3P” strategy focusing on people, peace and prosperity, and with more attention paid to economic ties between the RoK and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).