Hanoi (VNA) – General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee To Lam on January 30 held phone talks with the President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Lee Jae Myung.
During the talks, President Lee congratulated the CPV on its successful 14th National Congress and extended his congratulations to General Secretary To Lam on his re-election as the Party chief. He expressed confidence that under the leadership of the CPV headed by General Secretary Lam, Vietnam will continue to achieve its strategic development goals, including the target of attaining double-digit economic growth in the coming period.
President Lee affirmed that the RoK attaches great importance to relations with Vietnam and consistently regards Vietnam as a key priority partner in the implementation of its foreign policy in the region. He highlighted the State visit to the RoK by General Secretary Lam in August 2025 as an important milestone that contributed to enhancing mutual understanding between the two countries' people, consolidating political trust, and opening up numerous cooperation opportunities across fields, thereby further deepening the RoK–Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. He affirmed his readiness to work closely with General Secretary Lam to promote bilateral relations in a more robust, substantive and effective manner in the time ahead.
For his part, General Secretary Lam thanked the RoK for its early congratulations on the 14th National Party Congress and President Lee for his message.
Sharing key outcomes of the 14th National Congress, the top Vietnamese leader stressed that the Congress fulfilled a major historic mission by comprehensively reviewing practical experience gained over 40 years of national renewal while setting out major orientations for national development in the coming period. He noted that the overarching goal set by the Congress for the 2026–2030 period is to strive for average annual GDP growth of 10% or higher, with per capita GDP reaching around 8,500 USD by 2030, thereby creating a strong springboard for Vietnam to successfully realise its aspiration of becoming a developed, high-income country.
Congratulating the RoK on its significant development achievements, General Secretary Lam expressed his belief that under the President Lee’s leadership, the RoK will continue to develop strongly and sustainably. He reaffirmed that Vietnam consistently considers the RoK one of its top priority partners in its foreign policy and underscored Vietnam’s commitment to remaining a reliable, stable and responsible partner of the international community, working closely with the RoK to effectively implement bilateral agreements.
The two leaders agreed to further consolidate political trust as a firm foundation for strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership through enhanced high-level and all-level exchanges, expanded defence and security cooperation, and the implementation of defence industry and military trade projects. They also affirmed their determination to promote breakthroughs in economic cooperation, the main pillar of bilateral relations, by encouraging Korean enterprises to expand investment in Vietnam, particularly in semiconductors, high-tech electronics manufacturing, and the development of specialised industrial production complexes along value chains through projects by major Korean conglomerates.
Both sides agreed to continue facilitating trade, opening markets to each other’s goods, and striving to achieve the target of 150 billion USD in bilateral trade by 2030. They also agreed to strengthen cooperation in science and technology, identified as a new pillar of bilateral ties, expand cultural, tourism and locality-to-locality exchanges, and further nurture friendship and mutual understanding between the two countries' people.
Thanking President Lee for congratulating Vietnam on its third-place finish at the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup, General Secretary Lam highly valued the RoK’s effective contributions to sports cooperation, particularly the role of Korean experts and football coaches in Vietnam. He expressed his hope that deeper cooperation in this field would yield even greater achievements and become a vivid symbol of bilateral relations.
On multilateral cooperation, the two sides agreed to coordinate closely and support each other at regional and international forums, jointly contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the region, including the Korean Peninsula, and strengthen cooperation ahead of APEC 2027 in Vietnam.
On this occasion, General Secretary Lam invited President Lee to visit Vietnam soon, and the President accepted the invitation with pleasure./.
