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[Friends for decades] Vietnam, Korea ‘shelve the past’ for a closer future

Published: 24 Oct. 2022, 17:07 Updated: 25 Oct. 2022, 13:36

Ambassador of Vietnam to Korea Nguyen Vu Tung speaks with the Korea JoongAng Daily about the 30 years of Vietnam-Korea relations at the Vietnamese Embassy in Seoul. [PARK SANG-MOON]

There comes a time in many relationships, be it romantic or even between countries, in which it is necessary to define the extent or terms of the relationship. Such is the case for Vietnam and Korea, whose foreign ministers announced last week an elevation of their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

“It is the acknowledgement of how far we have come in our bilateral relationship in all fields,” said Nguyen Vu Tung, ambassador of Vietnam to Korea, in a recent interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the embassy in Seoul. “It is also an acknowledgement of an expectation for the higher stages of development to come.”

The announcement drew attention partly because Vietnam has a comprehensive strategic partnership with only a handful of countries; namely, Russia, India and China.

It also came as both China and the United States have been courting Vietnam vigorously over the two countries' heightened economic and security tensions, not to mention the ongoing disputes in the South China Sea.

“When two economies like America and China compete to try to form exclusive and closed groups, it’s not good for the whole trading system, or for individual countries,” said Vu Tung. “But there are also opportunities to look out for in the formation of new supply chains in the semiconductor industry and digital economy.”

Since establishing ties in 1992, trade between Korea and Vietnam grew exponentially from around $500 million that year to $80.7 billion in 2021, according to the Foreign Ministry in Seoul. Korea today is the largest investor of foreign direct investment in Vietnam.

People-to-people exchanges have followed suit, growing from around 2,000 in 1992 to 4.8 million in 2019, with the Vietnamese community in Korea becoming one of the largest foreign communities, second only to the Chinese.

The two have had their times of trial as well, most recently with the re-engagement of public discussion on the Korean participation in the Vietnam War, and regarding some cases of Covid-19 related measures from Vietnam affecting Korean citizens.

The Korea JoongAng Daily sat down with Vu Tung to hear more about the Vietnamese perspective on its relations with Korea and what the country expects from their partnership amid the current flux of political, economic and military tensions in the region.

The following are edited excerpts of the interview.

Foreign Minister Park Jin, left, shakes hands with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Oct. 18. [MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS]

What was the national and regional context for Vietnam when it decided to establish ties with Korea in 1992?

The Soviet Union had collapsed and the Soviet Socialist bloc disintegrated. It was time for Vietnam to be on its own. We had to make new friends, and seek new sources of support for our economic development. Korea at the time was also looking to expand its relations with its northern policy, and open up new markets for Korean exports. So there was a convergence of national interests on both of our sides to establish relations.

One of the markers for closer relations between Korea and Vietnam is trade volume, which was not hampered even by the pandemic. What’s driving it?

The two economies are complementary, where Vietnam can offer labor, land and markets and Korea the capital and technology. Vietnam can also offer Korean businesses with access to other markets because Vietnam has a network of 15 free trade agreements. Samsung is case in point, as a majority of Samsung smartphone tablets exported to the United States are [made in] Vietnam.

There is an expectation in Vietnam that Korea will contribute to the real economic development of our country, both through knowledge-sharing and through trade and investment. It is also expected that Korea will continue to tap into Vietnam’s labor force.

Both Vietnam and Korea have in recent years felt the rising tensions between Washington and Beijing. Is the rivalry an opportunity or a crisis for Hanoi and Seoul?

Vietnam and Korea are both export-oriented economies looking to expand their markets. And this requires an open and inclusive trading system based on rules. It’s no secret that both Vietnam and Korea have extensive economic relations with China, but taking sides [in the ongoing rivalry between the United States and China] is not going help our countries.

In the midst of such challenges are opportunities, as both Vietnam and Korea are working very hard to maintain the supply chains. We have had some successful precedents, such as when Vietnam was able to supply Korea with urea when it had a nationwide shortage last year.

Souses of presidents and prime ministers, including then First Lady of Korea Kim Jung-sook, take a stroll together in Hoi An, Vietnam, on Nov. 11, 2011, as an event on the sidelines of the APEC summit. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

A Vietnamese citizen recently testified in Korea on the atrocities allegedly committed by Korean soldiers against Vietnamese civilians during the Vietnam War. What is the Vietnamese government’s position on the issue?

History is always a difficult issue. Vietnam was once colonized by France. We fought with the U.S. [during the Vietnam War] and were briefly colonized by Japan. But now we are all in good relations with them. What made us [able to] achieve that? The basic principle of Vietnam [with regard to historical issues] is to shelve the past and look forward to the future.

Despite what happened in the past, Vietnam has repeatedly confirmed our wish to develop friendly and cooperative relations with all countries, including Korea. The top leaders of Vietnam and Korea have reached a general understanding about shelving the past and looking forward to the future, and we believe that the Korean government understands this and will continue together with Vietnam to materialize this general understanding. More importantly, we consider effective cooperation a key to building mutual understanding and trust that will serve as the basis for the solution of remaining issues.

How would you describe Vietnam-Korea relations today, on the people-to-people level?

In the social and cultural context, our relations could be described as those as close as between in-laws, which, coincidentally, can also be applied in the most literal sense since we have an increasing number of Vietnamese and Korean people getting married. When we elevated our ties to a strategic cooperative partnership in 2009, we had some 90,000 Vietnamese citizens living in Korea. That number grew to some 170,000 in 2017, and to around 226,000 today.

In comparing the size of foreign communities in Korea, the Vietnamese community is second only to the Chinese. The Vietnamese community here includes not only those married to Koreans, but also students, workers, including high-skilled workers in the shipbuilding industry and the manufacturing sector, as well researchers, businesspeople and other specialists.

There have been instances of domestic violence committed by Korean husbands to Vietnamese wives. What policies are in place today to prevent such incidents?

The Vietnamese community in Korea in general is a good and healthy community, with hardworking and law-abiding citizens. The number of incidents reported in the media are a very small representation of the community. It is our view that women of multicultural families should be provided protection on both legal and humanitarian bases.

When the U.S.-North Korea summit was held in Hanoi in 2019, some Korea watchers said that Vietnam’s economy could be a model for North Korea to follow should the isolated regime decide to pursue economic reforms. What are your thoughts on such comparisons?

That comparison is not without basis, because when the Hanoi summit took place, there were some efforts by North Korean officials to learn more about the Vietnamese model. But there is no secret to our model, because we followed the general economic development model that other Asean countries and those in Northeast Asia such as Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong followed. The basic principles are, first, reducing the role of the government in the market economy and allowing businesses to have more freedom; secondly, opening up the economy for foreign direct investment and trade; and thirdly, integrating our economy into the rest of the global market by having good relations with other countries, especially the neighboring ones.

If North Korea wants to achieve economic development, it might at least adopt these three principles. They might even start by applying some of it to their agricultural sector to let their farmers decide what they want to do with the land and resources. Vietnam’s agricultural reform in particular and its economic reform in general in mid-1980s started that way.

Vietnamese football fans celebrate with national flags and the image of late President Ho Chi Minh on the streets after the victory of Vietnam's U22 soccer team in South East Asia Games against Indonesia, in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Dec. 10, 2019. A korean flag is spotted among the flags of Vietnam held by football fans. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Football coach Park Hang-seo will conclude his coaching career in Vietnam next year. Who is Park to the people of Vietnam today?

He is a hero in Vietnam for having led national football teams of Vietnam to many regional and Southeast Asian titles. The people of Vietnam have had higher and higher expectations for Park, and it will be a role on our end to manage our expectations.

But Park’s role in Vietnam goes far beyond football. He inspired the players and the general public in the greater context because he helped us see what we can achieve together as a nation.

[VIETNAM EMBASSY IN KOREA]

Timeline of 30 years of Vietnam-Korea relations

12th and 13th century Ly family in Korea
There are records of Vietnamese Prince Ly Duong Con coming and settling down in Korea in the 12th century, and Prince Ly Long Tuong in the 13th century. They are known to have contributed to defending Korea from the Mongolian invaders, and their descendants maintain a community to this day. One member of the family, Ly Xuong Can (Lee Chang-geun), was recently reappointed as the tourism ambassador of Vietnam to Korea, with his tenure to last through 2024.

1992 Establishment of ties
The foreign ministers of Vietnam and Korea signed a joint statement in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Dec. 22, 1992, to establish ambassadorial-level diplomatic missions in each country. Korea opened its embassy in Hanoi soon after, and Vietnam in Seoul in March 1993. In November that year, Korea opened a consulate general in Ho Chi Minh city.

Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong, left, being welcomed in Seoul during his state visit that took place in August 2001 at the invitation of Korea’s President Kim Dae-jung, right. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

2001 Comprehensive partnership
The two countries elevated their relations to a “comprehensive partnership for the 21st century,” on the occasion of a visit by Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong to Seoul at the invitation of Korea’s President Kim Dae-jung in August 2001. It was the first state visit to Korea by a Vietnamese president since the two countries established diplomatic ties.

2009 Strategic cooperative partnership
The two countries elevated their relations to a “strategic cooperative partnership,” on the occasion of a visit by Korean President Lee Myung-bak to Hanoi. Lee met with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet in Hanoi on Oct. 21, 2009. The two agreed to establish regular dialogues between their defense and foreign ministries. At the time, Korea had a strategic cooperation partnership with only two other countries, China and Russia.

Trade ministers of Vietnam and Korea shake hands after signing the Vietnam-Korea free trade agreement on Dec. 10, 2014, in Busan. Korean President Park Geun-hye, right, and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, left, celebrate in the second row. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

2015 FTA
The free trade agreement between Vietnam and Korea went into effect in December 2015, a year after the two countries’ heads of states presided over a signing ceremony in Busan. The agreement was one of the first that Korea signed individually with an Asean member state since the Korea-Asean FTA went into effect for some Asean nations in 2007.

Coach Park and his team celebrating after the SEA win in 2019. [EPA/YONHAP]

2019 Southeast Asian Games
Coach Park Hang-seo led Vietnam to the final at the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, beating stronger teams like Australia, Iraq and Qatar along the way; to the semifinals at the 2018 Asian Games; to a win at the 2018 AFC Championship; to the quarterfinals at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup and to a gold medal at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. Nearly all of these feats were either a first-ever for Vietnam, or at least a first since the country was unified.

2022 30th anniversary in relations
To celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations, Vietnam and Korea decided to elevate their relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership.” The president of Vietnam is scheduled to visit Korea in early December this year, with more than 20 delegations having visited Korea this year, including a visit by Vo Van Thuong, permanent member of the Vietnamese Party Central Committee’s Secretariat, in August when he met with the prime minister and National Assembly speaker. The embassy also supported the organization of 10th Vietnam Festival in Seoul in September and the sixth Vietnam Festival in Gwangju in October.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [[email protected]]

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[Friends for decades] Vietnam, Korea ‘shelve the past’ for a closer future

Timeline of 30 years of Vietnam-Korea relations

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