Vietnam and the RoK set up their diplomatic ties on December 22, 1992. At present, the RoK is one of Vietnam’s leading important partners. (Photo: WVR/Hong Nguyen)

The State visit to Vietnam by the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s President Yoon Suk Yeol and his spouse from June 22-24 is expected to contribute to boosting the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, and effectively developing bilateral cooperation in all aspects.

The trip takes place in the context that the bilateral relationship was upgraded from the strategic partnership to the comprehensive strategic partnership in December 2022.

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

Vietnam and the RoK set up their diplomatic ties on December 22, 1992. At present, the RoK is one of Vietnam’s leading important partners.

Over the past years, the two countries have regularly exchanged high-level delegations, including the visits to the RoK by National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in December 2018, by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in November 2019, by NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue in December 2021; and by President Nguyen Xuan Phuc in December 2022.

Vice versa, top leaders of the RoK also paid visits to Vietnam, including the trips by President Moon Jae In in March 2018; by Speaker of the RoK National Assembly Park Byeong Seug from October 31 to November 4, 2020, and by NA Speaker Kim Jin Pyo in January 2023.

Most recently, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with President Yoon Suk Yeol when the two leaders attended the expanded summit of the Group of Seven in Japan’s Hiroshima last month.

Currently, Vietnam and the RoK have diverse economic cooperation mechanisms and frameworks at various levels.

They have also maintained close coordination and had active contributions at international organisations such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and regional cooperation mechanisms like Mekong-RoK, ASEAN-RoK, ASEAN Plus Three, and ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

In addition to cooperation in regional and global issues such as sustainable development, climate change response, and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the two sides also shared stances on principled issues such as settling territorial and maritime disputes through peaceful means, complying with international law, respecting and protecting freedom of navigation and aviation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Currently, the RoK is Vietnam’s third largest trading partner (after China and the US); its fourth largest export market (after the US, China, Japan) and the second largest import market of Vietnam (after China). It also ranks first in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam, and second in terms of official development assistance (ODA), labour and tourism.

On the other hand, Vietnam is the RoK's largest economic partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), accounting for 30% of investment and 50% of total trade turnover between the RoK and ASEAN.

Two-way trade hit 86.4 billion USD last year and the two countries are striving to raise the figure to 100 billion USD in 2023, and 150 billion USD by 2030.

RoK Ambassador to Vietnam Oh Young Ju said that over 200 Korean enterprises, including executives of five leading Korean groups, will accompany President Yoon during the visit. 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.

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.

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.