Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn stated that General Secretary Tô Lâm’s visit to South Korea was a great success, yielding significant outcomes across various areas including politics, science and technology, and economics.
General Secretary Tô Lâm, accompanied by his spouse and a high-level Vietnamese delegation, concluded a successful state visit to South Korea from August 10–13, at the invitation of President Lee Jae-myung and his spouse.
Deputy Prime Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn emphasized that the visit was highly successful, achieving substantial and practical results in five key areas, according to the Vietnam News Agency (TTXVN).
The visit deepened political trust, strengthened personal ties between senior leaders of both countries, and reached important mutual understandings on comprehensively advancing the Vietnam–South Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
During bilateral meetings and discussions, South Korean leaders consistently regarded Vietnam as a top strategic partner in their regional foreign policy and expressed readiness to support Vietnam’s goal of becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045.
On August 11, General Secretary Tô Lâm held a private meeting with President Lee Jae-myung.
Tô Lâm reaffirmed Vietnam’s consistent prioritization of relations with South Korea and expressed hope for more substantive, effective, and sustainable cooperation, aligned with the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Both sides agreed to promote high-level visits and exchanges, expand cooperation across all channels, and strengthen collaboration in all areas in line with the partnership framework.
Economic, trade, investment, science and technology, innovation, and human resource training cooperation between Vietnam and South Korea also saw notable achievements during the visit.
General Secretary Tô Lâm proposed a new strategic vision for Vietnam–South Korea economic linkage, transitioning from cooperation to integration. This includes joint development of production chains, mutual market access, and enabling Vietnamese enterprises to participate more deeply in South Korean global supply chains, aiming to reach a bilateral trade turnover of USD 150 billion by 2030 in a balanced and sustainable manner.
He also called on South Korean businesses to continue identifying Vietnam as a global production hub and strategic destination for establishing R&D centers, while expanding investment in key sectors and building specialized industrial complexes in Vietnam.
On August 12, General Secretary Tô Lâm and his spouse joined President Lee Jae-myung and his spouse for a tea ceremony.
The visit also opened new cooperation opportunities in key areas such as science and technology, strategic infrastructure development, high-tech agriculture, sustainable development, and climate change response.
Senior leaders agreed to make science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and human resource training new pillars of bilateral relations. They also agreed to jointly develop strategic technologies and enhance cooperation in digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and digital innovation policy-making.
Emphasizing the importance of social foundations and people-to-people exchanges as the glue binding the friendship and mutual understanding between the two nations, both sides committed to strengthening cooperation in culture, education, human resource training, and support for multicultural families, as well as local-level cooperation.
They agreed to extend the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on labor dispatch and reception under the Employment Permit System (EPS), and to promote cultural, sports, and tourism exchanges, simplify travel procedures, and expand tourism cooperation.
General Secretary Tô Lâm praised the contributions of over 350,000 Vietnamese living in South Korea and urged the South Korean government to create favorable conditions for them to live and work stably, contributing meaningfully to bilateral relations.
On the multilateral front, both sides agreed to closely cooperate and support each other at international and regional forums such as ASEAN, the United Nations, APEC, and the Mekong Subregion. They expressed readiness to actively participate in global efforts to address traditional and non-traditional security issues and global challenges.
They also discussed international and regional issues of mutual concern and pledged mutual support for successfully hosting the APEC Summit in South Korea in 2025 and in Vietnam in 2027.
During the visit, General Secretary Tô Lâm and Prime Minister Kim Min-seok witnessed the signing of 50 cooperation documents across energy, industry, digital infrastructure, digital transformation, finance, banking, services, culture, tourism, high-quality human resource training, and local-level cooperation between Vietnamese provinces and South Korean enterprises.
According to Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn, Vietnam and South Korea will soon implement specific measures to realize the high-level mutual understandings and agreements signed during the visit.
South Korean authorities will share their experience in developing the entertainment industry and support Vietnam in building and implementing a cultural industry development strategy, establishing a Vietnam Cultural Center in South Korea, and expanding labor sectors and quotas for Vietnamese workers.
General Secretary Tô Lâm was the first foreign guest of President Lee Jae-myung’s administration, which took office in early June. The two countries issued a joint statement highlighting six key areas of enhanced cooperation to deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with a focus on elevating economic, trade, investment, and scientific collaboration to new heights aligned with mutual interests.
Reported by Huyền Lê.
