General Secretary To Lam, his spouse, and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation concluded a successful state visit to South Korea from 10/8 to 13/8, at the invitation of President Lee Jae-myung and his spouse.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son described the visit as highly successful, achieving significant and tangible results across five key areas.

The visit deepened political trust, strengthened personal relationships between high-ranking leaders of both nations, and established a shared understanding of furthering and deepening the Vietnam-South Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

In bilateral meetings and discussions, South Korean leaders consistently recognized Vietnam as a key partner in their regional foreign policy and expressed their willingness to support Vietnam in achieving its 2045 development goals of becoming a high-income, developed nation.

General Secretary To Lam in bilateral talks with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on 11/8. Photo: TTXVN

General Secretary To Lam in bilateral talks with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on 11/8. Photo: TTXVN

General Secretary To Lam affirmed Vietnam's consistent prioritization of its relationship with South Korea and expressed his desire for continued practical, effective, close, and sustainable cooperation, commensurate with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework.

Both sides agreed to promote visits and exchanges between high-ranking leaders, expand cooperation across various channels, and strengthen collaboration across all sectors within the partnership framework.

The visit also yielded notable achievements in economic, trade, investment, scientific, technological cooperation, innovation, and human resource development between Vietnam and South Korea.

The General Secretary proposed a new strategic vision, shifting from economic cooperation to economic integration between Vietnam and South Korea. This includes promoting joint development of production chains, opening markets to each other's goods, and supporting Vietnamese businesses to participate more deeply in South Korean global supply chains. The goal is to achieve a balanced and sustainable bilateral trade turnover of 150 billion USD by 2030.

He also urged South Korean businesses to continue viewing Vietnam as a global manufacturing hub and a strategic location for research and development centers. He encouraged further investment in key sectors and the development of specialized industrial production complexes within Vietnam.

General Secretary To Lam and his spouse enjoy tea with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and his spouse on 12/8. Photo: TTXVN

General Secretary To Lam and his spouse enjoy tea with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and his spouse on 12/8. Photo: TTXVN

The visit also opened new opportunities for cooperation in key areas such as science and technology, strategic infrastructure development, high-tech agriculture, sustainable development cooperation, and climate change response.

Leaders from both countries agreed to make science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, and human resource development new pillars of their bilateral relationship. They also agreed to collaborate on developing strategic technology sectors and promoting cooperation in digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and digital innovation policy.

Emphasizing the importance of social foundations and people-to-people exchanges as the glue of their friendship and understanding, both sides committed to strengthening cooperation in culture, education, human resource training, people-to-people exchanges, supporting Vietnamese-Korean multicultural families, and fostering cooperation between local authorities.

Both sides agreed to extend the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on sending and receiving workers under the Employment Permit System (EPS). They will also collaborate on promoting cultural, sports, and tourism exchanges, cooperation, and communication, further expanding tourism cooperation, and simplifying travel procedures for citizens of both countries.

The General Secretary praised the contributions of the Vietnamese community of over 350,000 people living in South Korea. He requested that South Korea create favorable conditions for Vietnamese people to live, work stably, and contribute further to the bilateral relationship.

Multilaterally, both sides agreed to cooperate closely and increase mutual support in international and regional forums and organizations such as ASEAN, the United Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, and the Mekong sub-region. They expressed their readiness to actively participate in international efforts to address traditional and non-traditional security issues and global challenges.

Both sides also discussed international and regional issues of mutual concern and pledged mutual support for the successful organization of the APEC Summit in South Korea in 2025 and in Vietnam in 2027.

General Secretary To Lam and South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok witness the signing of cooperation agreements between businesses and organizations. Photo: TTXVN

General Secretary To Lam and South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok witness the signing of cooperation agreements between businesses and organizations. Photo: TTXVN

During the visit, 50 cooperation documents were signed in energy, industry, digital infrastructure, digital transformation, finance, banking, services, culture, tourism, high-quality human resource training, and enhanced cooperation between Vietnamese localities and South Korean businesses.

According to Mr. Bui Thanh Son, Vietnam and South Korea will actively implement specific measures to realize the shared high-level understanding and agreements signed during the visit.

South Korean authorities will share their experience in developing the entertainment industry and assist Vietnam in developing and implementing a strategy for its cultural industry. They will support the establishment of a Vietnamese Cultural Center in South Korea, and research and coordinate the expansion of industries and the scale of Vietnamese labor recruitment in South Korea.

General Secretary To Lam was the first foreign guest of the South Korean administration under President Lee Jae-myung, who took office earlier in June. The Vietnamese and South Korean leaders issued a joint statement outlining six key areas for enhanced cooperation to deepen their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. It emphasized strengthening economic, trade, investment, and scientific and technological cooperation to a new level, in line with bilateral needs and interests.

Huyen Le