Korea and Vietnam upgrade their diplomatic relations

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Korea and Vietnam upgrade their diplomatic relations

Foreign Minister Park Jin, left, shakes hands with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son in Hanoi on Tuesday. [MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS]

Foreign Minister Park Jin, left, shakes hands with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son in Hanoi on Tuesday. [MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS]

Korea and Vietnam decided to elevate their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership during a foreign ministerial meeting in Hanoi on Tuesday, as the two countries celebrate 30 years of ties this year.  
 
Foreign Minister Park Jin met with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son in Hanoi, their second meeting as foreign ministers. The two spoke over the phone for the first time in July, and met on the sidelines of an Asean-plus-three foreign ministerial meeting in Cambodia in August.  
 
“On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two ministers expressed their desire to develop relations further from the current ‘strategic partnership’ to ‘comprehensive strategic partnership,’” said the Korean Foreign Ministry in a statement Tuesday.
 
In the Vietnamese foreign policy system, comprehensive strategic partnerships are the highest rank in its categories of relations. There are only three other countries with whom Vietnam has this level of partnership: Russia, China and India.  
 
Although the Foreign Ministry does not officially rank its relations, Korea calls its relations with the United States, its closest security ally, a global comprehensive strategic alliance.

 
With both China and Russia, Korea has strategic cooperative partnerships. With countries including Australia, Canada and Peru, it has comprehensive strategic partnerships. 
 
During the meeting, Vietnam’s Son was quoted by his ministry said he hoped for “efforts to achieve trade of $100 billion by 2023 and $150 billion by 2030,” through use of the two countries' free trade agreement and the larger FTA for the region, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
 
Bilateral trade between Vietnam and South Korea reached $63.4 billion in the first 10 months of 2021, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.  
 
The two also discussed regional security and North Korea.
 
“Viet Nam always pays attention to the situation on the Korean Peninsula and hopes the parties concerned will exercise self-restraint, avoid escalation, persist in dialogue and take into account each other’s concerns and interests as well as common interests of the region and the world, thereby contributing to peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula, the region, and the world at large,” said the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry in a statement.  
 
Park’s visit to Vietnam from Monday to Tuesday was the first high-level visit from a representative of the Yoon Suk-yeol government to Vietnam.  
 
Park also met with Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chin on Tuesday.  
 
The two Vietnamese leaders was quoted by the Korean Foreign Ministry as having told Park that the administration in Hanoi is ready to have more high-level exchanges and expand cooperation in defense.  
 
Park also met with Korean corporate executives in Hanoi and visited the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and the Vietnam-Korea Institute of Science and Technology, which was established last year in cooperation with the Korea Institute of Science and Technology.  
 
 
Foreign Minister Park Jin, left, meets with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chin in Hanoi on Tuesday. [MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS]

Foreign Minister Park Jin, left, meets with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chin in Hanoi on Tuesday. [MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS]


BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]
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