New President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Park Geun-hye on February 26 said that the RoK Government and she personally are very keen to bolster ties with Vietnam.

The RoK President made the statement at her reception for Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan, who was in Seoul for the President’s swearing-in ceremony.

President Park Geun-hye noted with joy the two countries’ celebrations of their 20 th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties, and last year’s 20 billion USD in two-way trade.

The RoK will do its best together with Vietnam to raise the trade figure to 30 billion USD in the coming years, she added.

She also affirmed that she will assist the Vietnamese community in her country, and especially help Vietnamese women married to RoK men live a happy life in the country.

The RoK President asked Vice President Doan to convey her regards to President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

She said she hopes to find an appropriate time to visit Vietnam at President Truong Tan Sang’s invitation relayed by Vice President Doan.

For her part, Vice President Doan affirmed that the Vietnamese State and people want to further their strategic cooperation partnership with the RoK.

Doan said she believes that under the leadership of President Park Geun-hye, RoK will thrive with rising international prestige.

She expressed her hope that the RoK Government will continue to assist the Vietnamese community in the country integrate into local society, contributing to the two countries’ development.

Earlier, at a meeting with leaders of three RoK economic conglomerates Lotte, Chamvit and LG, the Vietnamese Vice President affirmed that Vietnam always facilitates foreign investors’ activities on the basis of harmonising the interests of people, business and the State.

At a meeting with staff from the Vietnamese embassy in the RoK, the Vice President hailed their contributions to the fine development of Vietnam-RoK relations in various fields, especially in economics. She also asked the embassy staff to increase their support to the 120,000 members of the Vietnamese expatriate community living in the country.-VNA