Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung and his Korean counterpart Cho Hyun discussed measures to further promote cooperation between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) in their phone talks on March 10.
During the talks, Cho affirmed that he stands ready to work closely with Trung to effectively implement existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, including the annual dialogue between Vietnamese and Korean FMs on reviewing the implementation of the Action Programme for the Vietnam –RoK comprehensive strategic partnership signed in June 2023; as well as broader cooperation between the two ministries and the two countries in general.
Trung briefed his RoK counterpart on the outcomes of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the country’s new development goals, noting that Vietnam aims to become a developing country with modern industry and upper-middle income by 2030 and a developed, high-income nation by 2045.
He emphasised that Vietnam will continue transforming its growth model based on science and technology, innovation and digital transformation, while mobilising the participation of all economic sectors. He said the country will enhance the efficiency of the state economic sector while promoting the private sector as a key growth driver.
International economic integration, including direct and indirect foreign investment, will remain an important engine for Vietnam’s development in the time to come, he said, noting that for the first time, the CPV has identified strengthening foreign affairs and international integration as a crucial and regular task.
Vietnam consistently attaches great importance to its relationship with the RoK and wishes to further deepen bilateral cooperation in a substantive and effective manner across fields, Trung stated.
The two ministers welcomed the strong development of bilateral ties, especially since the state visit to the RoK by General Secretary To Lam in August 2025. They agreed to continue strengthening political trust and mutual understanding, while promoting breakthroughs in economic cooperation, and taking effective measures for the goal of raising bilateral trade to 150 billion USD in a more balanced manner by 2030.
They also discussed facilitating Vietnamese exports to the Korean market and encouraging RoK companies to expand investment in Vietnam, particularly in high-tech industries, renewable energy, smart cities and environmentally friendly and less labour-intensive sectors.
The two FMs agreed to expand cooperation in science and technology - a new pillar of bilateral relationship. They pledged to speed up the implementation of the second phase of the Vietnam – Korea Institute of Science and Technology (VKIST) project; share experience in policy and strategy development, and promote cooperation in digital innovation and the training of high-quality human resources.
In addition, the two countries will further expand cooperation in culture, tourism, labour and locality-to-locality exchanges, while continuing to strengthen friendship and mutual understanding between the two countries' people.
Regarding multilateral cooperation, the two ministers agreed to maintain close coordination and mutual support on regional and international issues of common concern; explore appropriate forms of cooperation in response to the increasingly complex global and regional situation, including efforts to maintain stable supply chains.
The two sides agreed to closely coordinate in supporting Vietnam to successfully host the APEC Economic Leaders' Week 2027 in Phu Quoc, promote the organisation of the Mekong–RoK Summit in 2026, and continue cooperating and supporting each other at multilateral mechanisms and forums./.
