Illustrative image (Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn) Seoul (VNA) – The state visit to Vietnam by President of the Republic ofKorea (RoK) Yoon Suk Yeol from June 22 -24 at the invitation of President VoVan Thuong is a vivid testament to the special importance given by the Korean governmentand the President himself to the bilateral relationship, a Vietnamese diplomathas said.
In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Vietnamese Ambassador to theRoK Nguyen Vu Tung highlighted the significance of the visit, stressing that it will mark an important milestone in the relations between the leadersof the two countries, helping promote stronger exchanges between ministries,sectors, localities, businesses, and people of Vietnam and the RoK.
Vietnamattaches importance to the Vietnam-RoK cooperation within Vietnam’s overall developmentstrategy in general as well as the country’s foreign policy in particular, the diplomatstated.
TheVietnam-RoK relationship is based on two main pillars - trust and win–wincooperation, Tung said, adding that the visit aims to strengthen the trust and mutualbenefits.
Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Nguyen Vu Tung (Photo: VNA) High-level visits and exchanges have always been means to enhance trust betweenthe two nations, he said.
Thespecific outcomes of this visit are expected to pave the way for lifting thebilateral ties between the two countries to a new height within the frameworkof the comprehensive strategic partnership, contributing to bringing benefits tolocalities, businesses and people of the both nations, Ambassador Tung said.
Thetrip is also hoped to create new momentum for all-around cooperation betweenthe two countries in 2023, from politics and diplomacy to security, defence,economy, education - training, science - technology, culture, sports, tourism,labour, and people-to-people exchange.
The RoK is currently promoting several notable policies,including the “Global Pivotal State (GPS), theIndo-Pacific Strategy, and the ASEAN-Korea Solidarity Initiative. Therefore,Vietnam's reception of the RoK president also sends out a message of Vietnam'ssupport for and trust that the RoK government and its people will successfullyimplement their policies and development goals in the future, contributing to peace,prosperity, and stability of the region and the world.
Thevisit will take place in an unpredictable geopolitical and economic context inrecent times, so it highlights the importance of the Vietnam-RoK cooperation acrossfields, Tung stressed.
The Vietnam– RoK relations have recorded great progress across fields over the last 30years, from politics - diplomacy, security - defence, to economy and culture,Tung said, noting that their cooperation has transitioned from"overlapping interest" to a higher level, known as "intertwininginterest”.
Thepolitical relations, mutual trust and understanding between high-level leadersof the two countries have always been strengthened throughout differentperiods, serving as a solid foundation to deepen the bilateral relations in variousfields.
The two nations have more opportunities to step up ties as the bilateral andmultilateral cooperation frameworks and mechanisms have been strengthened,trust deepened, and people-to-people relation cemented, he noted.
Sincethe establishment of the bilateral diplomatic relations in 1992, the two countries have upgradedtheir relationship twice, from a comprehensive partnership to a strategiccooperative partnership in 2009, and to a comprehensive strategic partnership in2022. The two nations’ high-ranking leaders have maintained regular exchanges of delegationsand visits. Meanwhile, mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation have been established andoperated stably across various fields.
Tung emphasisedthe vital role by the economic cooperation in the bilateral relationship,saying that economic ties have been rapidly progressing and the two countrieshave become top important economic partners of each other in various sectors.
TheRoK remains the largest foreign investor in Vietnam and the third biggest tradepartner of the Southeast Asian nation. Its trade with Vietnam ranks first inASEAN, accounting for 45-50% of the Northeast Asian nation’s total trade with the bloc.
Increasingpeople-to-people exchanges between the two nations are the basis for promoting economic,cultural and educational cooperation, and relationships between theirlocalities, Tung stressed.
The successful cooperation between the two countries has brought about a newposition for each other at regional and global forums, he said, noting that thereis great potential for the two sides to expand cooperation if they can fullytap the comprehensive strategic relationship.
Thetwo sides should continue to exploit the complementarity of the two economies fromthe perspective of human resources/labour, value chain/supply chain, technologytransfer, and trade balance, the ambassador said.
He suggestedthe two sides expand their partnership in new areas such as climate changeresponse, digital transformation, green development, clean energy, supply chainstability, defence industry cooperation, coordination within the framework oftrade agreements and mechanisms, and people-to-people exchange./.
