South Korean Prime Minister: Good relations with Vietnam are "the world's leading model"

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck Soo said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to South Korea is an opportunity to deepen strategic cooperation between the two countries.

At the invitation of Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Han Duck Soo and his wife, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh and his wife will pay an official visit to Korea from June 30 to July 3. On this occasion, Prime Minister Han Duck Soo gave an interview about Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit and the relationship between the two countries. Could you please tell us what the upcoming visit of Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh to Korea is and what prospects it opens up for the Vietnam-Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the coming time? Prime Minister Han Duck Soo: Over the past 30 years, Korea and Vietnam have developed an exemplary cooperative relationship that is among the top in the world. The relationship between the two countries is developing extremely well; the two countries have become important trade partners with a trade turnover of nearly 100 billion USD. The Prime Minister's visit to Korea this time is the first official visit by a senior Vietnamese official to Korea since the two countries established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in December 2022. Following the state visit of the President of Vietnam to Korea in December 2022 and the state visit of President Yoon Suk Yeol to Vietnam in June 2023, this is the third consecutive year of mutual visits by senior leaders, demonstrating the close relationship between the two countries. The visits of senior officials and leaders of the two countries have greatly contributed to the development of bilateral relations. Therefore, it can be expected that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Korea will be an opportunity to further strengthen political trust and deepen strategic cooperation between Korea and Vietnam as leading cooperative partners in the region. In particular, when the President of Vietnam visited Korea in 2022, we signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. When President Yoon Suk Yeol visited Vietnam in 2023, the two sides adopted an Action Plan to develop this Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Therefore, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Korea this time is considered an opportunity for the two sides to specifically assess the implementation of the Action Plan at the level of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in recent times. Personally, after taking office as Prime Minister in 2022, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was the first foreign official with whom I had a phone call. For nearly an hour, we discussed and pondered over the comprehensive development of the relationship between the two countries. Earlier this year, at the Davos Forum in Switzerland, I met privately with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and discussed the development of new areas in the relationship between the two countries. I invited the Prime Minister to visit Korea and I am very pleased that the Prime Minister accepted the invitation and I look forward to meeting Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh again in Seoul. During the State visit of President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea to Vietnam in June 2023, the two sides signed the Action Program to implement the Vietnam-Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Could you please tell us about the strategy of the Korean Government in cooperation with Vietnam? What are the key areas of cooperation to further promote bilateral relations in the new period? Prime Minister Han Duck Soo: In 2022, the Korean Government announced the “Indo-Pacific Strategy” with the goal of playing a greater role and contributing to freedom, peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. Along with that, Korea also adopted the “Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI)” to promote specialized cooperation to serve the needs of ASEAN within the framework of the Indo-Pacific strategy. The Korean government regards Vietnam as a key partner in both the Korean Strategy for ASEAN (KASI) and the Indo-Pacific Strategy. Therefore, we are strengthening our strategic, practical, and mutually beneficial partnership with Vietnam both bilaterally and in our overall strategy for ASEAN. In particular, in the context of the rapidly changing situation in the Indo-Pacific region recently, we wish to strengthen our strategic cooperation with Vietnam to contribute to peace and stability in the region. To achieve this goal, it is important to strengthen exchanges and active strategic communication between key leaders of both countries, and I believe that this meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will also be a good opportunity. Along with that, both sides need to actively utilize cooperation mechanisms such as the dialogue between the two countries' foreign ministers. We need to further promote the development of bilateral relations in a wide range and in key areas, including economy and investment. South Korea remains the number one investor in Vietnam. Vietnam has become one of the three most important trade partners of South Korea, with the two countries aiming to reach a turnover of 150 billion USD by 2030.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visits the electronic equipment production line of Samsung Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd. in July 2023 - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Korea and Vietnam are inseparable partners in promoting sustainable economic development. To achieve this goal, I think it is important to expand and strengthen cooperation between the two countries from the existing production-centered cooperation to various areas such as economic security, science and technology, digital and climate change. In the future, there will be more exchanges in the fields of technology, human resource training and culture. However, trade and investment cooperation to restore and develop the economy will continue to be emphasized. Currently, there are about 200,000 overseas Vietnamese from each country living, studying and working in the other country, including about 90,000 Vietnamese-Korean multicultural families. Prime Minister, please tell us about the contributions of multicultural families to the development of Korea and the Korean Government's policy to promote people-to-people exchanges between Vietnam and Korea. Prime Minister Han Duck Soo: I believe that extensive people-to-people exchanges between the two countries are a driving force for sustainable bilateral cooperation. Vietnam aims to become a high-income country by 2045, and Korea wants to be a reliable partner of Vietnam in achieving that goal. In particular, we are very pleased that the “Vietnam-Korea Institute of Science and Technology (VKIST),” a symbol of Korea-Vietnam science and technology cooperation with our total investment of 35 million USD, was inaugurated last year. Through such cooperation in the field, Korea also supports the training of skilled and specialized human resources necessary for Vietnam’s industrial development in related fields. Currently, Korea and Vietnam each have a community of about 200,000 people living, studying and working in the other country, including about 90,000 Korean-Vietnamese multicultural families. This community, consisting of multicultural families, is acting as a bridge, contributing to promoting trade, investment, science-technology cooperation and human resource development between the two countries.

Mr. Doan Quang Viet, Administrator of the website "Korea today", speaking at the Consultants' Workshop, representing the Vietnamese community group in Korea

Vietnamese workers in Korea have made significant contributions to the development of major industries such as the Korean shipbuilding industry. The scale of human resource exchange between the two countries is rapidly recovering to pre-COVID-19 levels, recording 4.1 million visits last year and is expected to reach 5 million visits in 2024, the highest level ever. The Korean government is providing comprehensive support services from the preparation stage for marriage in Vietnam to permanent settlement in Korea to help Vietnamese marriage immigrants settle down in Korea. Korea is also promoting bilingual education and vocational training support in Korean and Vietnamese so that children in Korean-Vietnamese multicultural families can grow up healthy, serving as a bridge between Korea and Vietnam. In addition, children returning to Vietnam after living in Korea are also supported with accommodation and care at a support center in Hai Phong to ensure that they do not encounter difficulties while living here. Over the years, Vietnam and Korea have cooperated closely and made positive contributions to many international organizations and forums. According to the Prime Minister, what should the two countries do so that the Vietnam-Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership can contribute more to the development of each country as well as the region and the world? Prime Minister Han Duck Soo: The Korean Government has set out a strategic vision of becoming a “global pillar country - GPS.” Accordingly, the Korean Government is striving to make more positive contributions to freedom, peace and prosperity in the world. Vietnam, with its increasingly improving international position, is also expected to play a larger role in the international arena. Therefore, there is an increasing need for the two countries to strengthen cooperation on important regional and international issues as “comprehensive strategic partners.” South Korea and Vietnam are strengthening cooperation at the ASEAN level, a key cooperation mechanism in the region. In particular, over the past three years, Vietnam has played a leading role in strengthening cooperation between South Korea and ASEAN as the coordinator of the South Korea-ASEAN dialogue. We highly appreciate Vietnam, as a major cooperation partner in Asia, supporting our government’s efforts to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. I hope that in the future, the two countries will continue to cooperate to peacefully resolve this issue. Cooperation in responding to climate change, a common challenge and mission of mankind, is also very important. I believe that both countries can together play a leading role in turning the climate crisis into green growth and new opportunities. We highly appreciate Vietnam’s hosting of the P4G Summit in 2025. As the Republic of Korea has already hosted the summit in 2021, we will actively share our experiences to ensure Vietnam’s successful hosting of this important summit. In 2015, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was adopted, which has actively contributed to promoting international cooperation in joint projects to reduce carbon emissions and developing systems for sharing climate change results to facilitate the implementation of this commitment. The Republic of Korea and Vietnam are the leading countries in signing the 2015 Paris Agreement, thereby opening up the market for carbon reduction and accelerating the transition to environmentally friendly energy. Thank you very much, Prime Minister./. Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/thu-tuong-pham-minh-chinh-tham-han-quoc-lam-sau-sac-them-hop-tac-chien-luoc-102240628135754763.htm