Marking and paving the way for the 'fateful relationship' between Vietnam and Korea to continue to bear fruit

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's recent official visit to Korea marked and paved the way for the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries to move towards new achievements in the future.

Former Vietnamese Ambassador to Korea Pham Tien Van. (Photo: Thu Trang)

Former Vietnamese Ambassador to Korea Pham Tien Van shared with The Gioi & Viet Nam Newspaper his impressions of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Korea and the highlights of the bilateral relationship in the exemplary relationship over 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations. During his recent official visit to Korea, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had many activities such as meeting with senior Korean leaders, meeting with leading Korean enterprises and witnessing the signing of many bilateral cooperation agreements. Could you please evaluate the outstanding results of the visit? It can be affirmed that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's recent visit to Korea is especially important for the bilateral relationship. This is the first visit by a senior Vietnamese leader to Korea after the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. At the same time, this is also the first visit by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to Korea as the head of the Government. The great significance of this event lies in the fact that this is not only an official visit, but also a working trip to implement and deploy high-level agreements on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and Korea. There have been many visits to Korea by high-ranking Vietnamese leaders, but I believe that this trip is a major milestone in bilateral relations. This is reflected in the extremely rich program of activities of the visit, focusing on core areas of bilateral relations. Notably, many agreements between ministries, branches and enterprises of the two countries were signed. Thereby, the visit opened a chapter of cooperation between Vietnam and Korea in a new period. In the context of the volatile world economic situation, the two countries are facing opportunities and challenges of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution, at a time when the 30-year milestone of relations has just passed, this is the time for Vietnam and Korea to further deepen relations in all fields. It can be said that the trip marked and paved the way for the Vietnam-Korea relationship to move towards new achievements in the future. I am very pleased that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit has achieved substantial, profound and comprehensive results in all areas from politics, diplomacy, economy, investment, tourism, culture and people-to-people exchange. On this occasion, the Vietnam-Korea Business Forum was held on July 1. Previously, during his State visit to Vietnam last year, President Yoon Suk Yeol was accompanied by a delegation of 205 leading Korean business leaders. What do these signals indicate, Ambassador? Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, economic cooperation has always been the most important pillar for the rapid and effective development of Vietnam-Korea relations. In every high-level bilateral visit, the content of economic exchanges and talks has always received the most attention and the results of the visits in the economic field have always been the most prominent. During his State visit to Vietnam last year, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was accompanied by a large business delegation of more than 200 leaders of corporations and enterprises. Vietnam is the first Southeast Asian country that a South Korean President visited with such a large business delegation, creating an opportunity for the two sides to meet and exchange substantive information. During this visit by the Vietnamese Prime Minister, the contents and cooperation that the two sides had discussed in the past have been realized and concretized. This is reflected in the visit program with extremely rich and extensive contents in the economic field during the talks between the two Prime Ministers, during the reception of the President of Korea, during the meetings with leaders of leading Korean corporations and enterprises, and in economic, labor and tourism forums.... In particular, I think that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's time spent meeting with leaders of leading Korean corporations (CJ, Posco, LG, Daewoo E&C, GS Engineering & Construction Corp, Celltrion and KDB Bank) is very meaningful. Because these are all large corporations, accounting for a significant amount of investment in Vietnam. The Prime Minister's meeting with the corporations and the corporations coming to meet the Prime Minister to discuss and make specific commitments to continue investing in Vietnam means two things. First, the Vietnamese market continues to maintain its attractiveness to world investors in general and Korean investors in particular. Second, Korean investors continue to show interest and desire to invest in larger projects in Vietnam. In discussions about Vietnam-Korea relations over the past three decades, some have questioned whether Korean investment in Vietnam has reached a threshold and is saturated. However, this trip is clear evidence that Korean investment in Vietnam continues to grow, aiming for new achievements in the future.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Lee Jae Yong, Chairman of Samsung Group in Seoul, July 2. (Photo: Tuan Anh)

The relationship between the two countries has been maintained very well over the past 30 years and continues to have new developments. Surely the Ambassador has many impressions of this Comprehensive Strategic Partnership? Having continuously followed the relationship between the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic relations for more than 30 years, my deepest impression of the Vietnam-Korea relationship is that, although the two countries are not large countries, they have become each other's leading partners (especially in the economic field) with spectacular developments. Among many countries and many choices, the two countries "came together" by chance and have been deeply attached in each step of development, to now become Comprehensive Strategic Partners, which is the highest level of diplomatic relations. Another impression of the Vietnam-Korea relationship is the special closeness. Vietnam's relationship with many other countries may be larger in scale, but with Korea, the closeness and intimacy must be said to be special. From the people to the leaders of Korea, everyone said that there is no country where Korea has such close feelings as a family with Vietnam. The same goes for us, for Vietnam, Korea is truly a friend, a partner, and also a relative. It can be said that the emotional and people-to-people exchange between the two countries is very deep and has become a solid foundation for the stable development of Vietnam-Korea relations. According to the Ambassador, what should the two countries do to better exploit the potential for cooperation in new fields such as digital economy, high technology, green transformation, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, clean energy, etc.? New fields such as digital economy, high technology, green transformation, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, clean energy, etc. were mentioned a lot during this trip. This shows that Vietnam-Korea relations are about to have many changes in line with the general trend and flow of the world. The two countries have many advantages to cooperate in these fields due to the good bilateral relationship and high political trust. Moreover, Vietnam-Korea cooperation has always been a win-win, mutually beneficial cooperation. The fields in which Korea wants to promote investment are also the areas that the Vietnamese economy is struggling with and making efforts to realize. In the era of Industry 4.0, the era of a series of new fields, the two countries are facing the opportunity to cooperate and win in this new playground. On the other hand, new technology fields require very close cooperation and attachment. Therefore, the two countries need to have a very high spirit of cooperation to be able to enter these fields full of opportunities but also full of challenges. I believe this will be a new opportunity, a new playground for Vietnam-Korea cooperation in general and for each country to affirm its international position in particular.

Ceremony to hand over documents on Vietnam-Korea cultural and tourism cooperation in Seoul, July 1. (Photo: Tuan Anh)

As President Yoon Seok Yeol once said, Vietnam and Korea have maintained a relationship of in-laws for the past 800 years, and now, the two countries are no different from one family. Currently Vice President of the Vietnam-Korea Friendship Association, how does the Ambassador assess the friendship and people-to-people exchange between the two countries? During the recent visit, leaders of both sides emphasized that the Vietnam-Korea relationship is a model of international cooperation, specifically between a developed country and a developing country. The success of the Vietnam-Korea model cooperation is not only achieved thanks to the billions of USD in trade and investment turnover, but also comes from the connection between the people of the two countries and the two nations. Over the past 30 years, the achievements of people-to-people exchange between Vietnam and Korea are reflected in the scale of the community and the affection of the two sides for each other. The Vietnamese community living and working in Korea is more than 250,000 people, the largest foreign community in the land of kimchi. Similarly, Korea also has a community of more than 150,000 people in Vietnam, the largest among foreign communities in our S-shaped land. In particular, there are many Vietnamese women who go to Korea to build multicultural families, creating in-law relationships between the two countries. In addition, the two countries also have the strength of historical and cultural similarities, creating conditions for understanding, closeness and sympathy for each other. Vietnamese people are very sympathetic and close to Korean culture. This is also an area with much room for the two countries to continue sharing and bonding. With Vietnam's policy of developing cultural industries in the coming time, Korea is a successful partner for us to research, refer to and learn from. Thereby, promoting the important role of cultural industry in social life, people's life, economy, as well as the stature and international prestige of Vietnam . This is completely true as President Yoon Seok Yeol said, the two countries are now in-laws and are no different from one family. People-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries have brought about clear results, creating a special relationship between Vietnam and Korea. Thank you, Ambassador! Source: https://baoquocte.vn/danh-dau-va-mo-duong-co-duyen-viet-nam-han-quoc-tiep-tuc-dom-hoa-ket-trai-277695.html