On this occasion, President Yoon Suk Yeol gave an interview to VNA about major orientations in bilateral cooperation as well as the potential for cooperation between the two countries in many fields. Thanh Nien would like to briefly publish the interview content.
Open a new chapter
Mr. President, in December 2022, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, Vietnam and Korea officially upgraded their cooperative relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership. As President, how do you assess the new framework and content of this partnership in terms of bilateral cooperation?
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife have arrived in Hanoi.
For more than 30 years, since the official establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, Vietnam and Korea have continuously built and nurtured an exemplary, mutually beneficial cooperative relationship in all fields. The important thing is that we are not satisfied with the results achieved, but constantly promote the development of the relationship between the two countries to be more practical and future-oriented.
In this spirit, in 2022, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the official establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries upgraded their cooperative relationship to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership. This demonstrates the determination of the Governments and peoples of the two countries to unite, expand the fields of cooperation and deepen bilateral exchanges.
First of all, I would like to strengthen security cooperation with Vietnam so that the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region can be firmly rooted. The Republic of Korea will continue to cooperate with Vietnam on maritime security. At the same time, I hope to expand bilateral cooperation in the defense industry based on Korea's superior technological capabilities that have been proven in the world market.
Korea will continue to strengthen future-oriented cooperation for the goal of mutual prosperity between Vietnam and Korea. Korea will continue to support the Vietnam -Korea Institute of Science and Technology (VKIST), the largest independent non-refundable aid project ever by the Korean government, to make VKIST a center for science and technology development in Vietnam . In particular, during this state visit to Vietnam , I will announce a new aid project to help Vietnam enhance its capacity for science and technology research.
This year has been a strong start for the comprehensive strategic partnership between our two countries. I hope that this state visit to Vietnam will open a new chapter in our cooperation.
Since the official establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, Vietnam and South Korea have achieved spectacular developments in many fields, especially the economic field. Could you please share your assessment of the South Korean Government's plan for economic cooperation and investment expansion in Vietnam ?
In December 2022, the leaders of the two countries set a target of increasing bilateral trade to 150 billion USD by 2030. However, due to the impact of the global economic recession, bilateral trade this year is experiencing negative growth. To restore the dynamism of bilateral trade, a large-scale economic delegation will accompany me on this visit to Vietnam .
Vietnam is a key country in Korea's Indo-Pacific Strategy, so cooperation between the two countries needs to be further developed. The scope of cooperation needs to be expanded from the production and manufacturing sector to the service sector in industries such as finance, distribution and circulation of goods, information technology, etc. The cooperation method also needs to be implemented in the direction of expanding and taking advantage of each other's strengths. Korea plans to expand cooperation to enhance Vietnam 's technological capacity in the industrial sector.
Cooperation on future goals such as achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and digital transformation is also important. I hope that future generations of both countries will play a leading role in these future goals.
People-to-people exchange activities have made great strides.
Currently, Korea is implementing major foreign policies such as the "Global Key State Vision (GPS)" and the "Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI)". Could you please share some information about the potential for cooperation between Korea and Vietnam for the purpose of policy support in bilateral and multilateral relations?
I know that until the last moment of his life, President Ho Chi Minh, the father of the Vietnamese people, still yearned for the wish that "the country would be independent, the people would be free, everyone would have food and clothes, everyone would be educated". Now, Vietnam is proactively and actively participating in international cooperation activities for world peace; at the same time, aiming to become a developed country by 2045.
This goal of Vietnam is also in line with KASI that I announced at the Korea-ASEAN Summit held last November in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) to realize Korea's Global Key State (GPS) vision.
This visit to Vietnam is my first bilateral visit to a Southeast Asian country since taking office as President of the Republic of Korea. For that reason, my visit to Vietnam is more meaningful than anything else, as I officially launch the full implementation of KASI together with Vietnam , a key partner of the Republic of Korea.
In particular, the Republic of Korea looks forward to strengthening practical and future-oriented cooperation with ASEAN and the Mekong region. To demonstrate its strong determination to strengthen the Korea-ASEAN relationship, I hope that the Korea-ASEAN relationship will be elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership by the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Korea-ASEAN relationship in 2024.
I hope that in the process of implementing KASI and in order to achieve the goal of establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership between Korea and ASEAN next year, Korea and Vietnam will further strengthen cooperation and dialogue. I believe that through this, the two countries will be able to contribute more to the peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region, including ASEAN.
Vietnam and Korea have many similarities in history and culture. This has contributed significantly to the development of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries over the past 30 years. Could you share more about the Korean Government’s policies to promote human resource exchange and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries?
Over the past 30 years, thanks to the valuable efforts of all social classes in the two countries, people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have made great strides. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly 5 million people from the two countries visited each other each year and there were over 500 direct flights per week.
Last year, when daily life was restored, among foreign tourists visiting Vietnam , Koreans still accounted for the largest number. This summer, Koreans still said that Vietnam was the most ideal tourist destination.
Currently, there are about 170,000 Koreans living in Vietnam . This is also the largest Korean community among Southeast Asian countries. There are currently about 6,500 Korean-Vietnamese families in Vietnam and over 80,000 Korean-Vietnamese families living in Korea.
The Korean government will provide institutional support so that people-to-people exchanges between the two countries can develop further. In particular, Korea will increase support to expand exchanges between future generations of the two countries. Korea will also expand support so that the young generation of Vietnam can access high-quality Korean language training programs in Vietnam and expand opportunities for more Vietnamese students to study in Korea.
Thank you very much Mr. President!
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