Similar histories and business ties put an end to war-era animosities

Viewing each other in the past through Cold War lenses, South Korea and Vietnam were mortal enemies during the Vietnam War but now neither country is looking back on that era. Their new relationship, they have declared, is one of a “comprehensive partnership.”

Perhaps the best summation of the relationship between the two countries was given by President Roh Moo-hyun in October 2004. During a visit there, he said South Koreans have a feeling of indebtedness toward Vietnam and are keen to see it thrive. Those remarks, perhaps somewhat puzzling at first glance, were probably influenced by a sense of historical sentiment about the similarity in the histories of the two countries. Vietnam, like Korea was a colony. A part of French Indochina, it became a country divided into two in 1954 with the North ruled by the communist Viet Minh. The French, whose efforts to retain their control of the country were thwarted by 1954, backed the South, joined by the United States. The two Vietnams fought a bitter war that ended with the capture of Saigon in 1975 and the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam with its capital at Hanoi. For many adult South Koreans, the word “Vietnam” evokes memories of the days of President Park Chung Hee, who despite being a dictator is credited as having laid the foundations for his country’s economic revival that began in the 1960s. Nobody in those days questioned the president’s call to send South Korean troops to Vietnam to help repel the spread of communism. For South Korea, still living with vivid memories of its own bloody civil war against its communist neighbor to the North, Vietnam was a “second front,” as Park Chung Hee called it, and Seoul was just doing its job in aiding its key ally, the United States, which saw Vietnam as another domino to fall in the Southeast Asian region to communist expansion. From 1964 to 1973 South Korea sent 320,000 troops in all to Vietnam - Army and Marine units primarily - the largest national military contingent after that of the United States to ally itself with South Vietnam. In 1975, when the final North Vietnamese offensive gave them control of the entire country, South Korea withdrew its diplomatic mission in Saigon, ending relations that had been established in 1956. The severed diplomatic ties were restored in December 1992. At the time, the trade volume between the two countries was $500 million. In the late 1980s, Vietnam had embarked on its “Doi Moi” (renovation) experiment with capitalistic reforms. Investment in Vietnam by South Korean companies was very modest at the time; only eight companies were there, with investments of only $16.8 million. By last year, that investment had risen to $304 million in 172 projects, according to figures from the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency. Vietnam’s exports to Korea are primarily fish products, clothing and shoes; Korea exports cars, electronics and petrochemical products. Trade officials predict that two-way trade may reach $8 billion within the next five years. The “doi moi” reforms, a major break from the government’s conservative and doctrinaire communist orthodoxy of the past, were launched by the Communist Party of Vietnam at the Sixth National Congress in 1986. Since the program began in earnest in 1987, the country has had economic growth averaging 7 percent per year in real terms. As it began to develop, it began to attract more diplomatic interest; the United States established diplomatic ties in 1995 and Vietnam joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in 1997. Vietnam’s major attraction until now is its inexpensive labor force, and the country’s expected accession to the World Trade Organization late this month is expected to give South Korean businesses more access to the Vietnam market. The membership has increased the country’s value as a beachhead in the region for South Korean companies, while the country’s growth-oriented economic policies are also expected to fuel business interest. Recognizing the country’s potential, the South Korean conglomerate Lotte has designated Vietnam ― along with Russia, India and China ― as one of its strategic locations for its global business affairs. Posco is expected to build a steel factory in the southern part of the country. It has begun purchasing land for the project and is also active in construction projects there. Vietnam is rich in natural resources, and has actively courted international investment to develop those resources. There are about 800 South Korean companies doing business in Vietnam, which after China has emerged as the favorite new area to set up shop, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. In 2004, the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency said, six out of 10 South Korean companies operating in Vietnam are already profitable, and nine of 10 say they are satisfied with their business prospects. “Vietnam has a cheap labor force that is also very well educated,” said Yoon Ha-chung, an official at the agency. “It has become an alternative to China as a manufacturing base.” The increasing economic ties may have spilled over to the political arena as well. Vietnam has cooperated in sending North Korean defectors to Seoul although it would like to keep that cooperation as quiet as possible. In July 2004, Vietnam sent a group of 486 North Korean escapees here in the largest single relocation of Koreans from North to South since the Korean War. The thriving business relationship seems solid, but there are also some other factors that need to be taken into account by Korean businessmen. “They are very practical people,” one government official whose duties include relations with Vietnam, “but you have to bear in mind that the country is still a communist country, which somewhat slows things down. There is also a certain level of corruption, but overall the outlook is quite good. What we have today is a relationship in which both sides have recognized what’s mutually beneficial. What happened in the past is a thing of the past. It’s buried.” by Brian Lee