Yoon visits Samsung’s R&D center in Hanoi, says Korea will share knowledge

Diplomacy

Published: 24 Jun. 2023, 14:32 Updated: 26 Jun. 2023, 11:43

Yoon visits Samsung’s R&D center in Hanoi, says Korea will share knowledge

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, visits the Samsung Electronics R&D Center Vietnam in Hanoi on Saturday, the last day of his three-day state visit to Vietnam. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

HANOI – President Yoon Suk Yeol said Korea will work to share its science and technology knowledge with Vietnam to strengthen their research and development partnership as he visited the Samsung Electronics R&D Center in Hanoi Saturday morning.

"Korea's government and companies share our science and technology not only with the youth of our country but also with the youth of key partner countries like Vietnam, who cooperate with us in the economy and international community," Yoon said at the center. "It is necessary to provide opportunities for you to study so that you can become better researchers and engineers."

Yoon took part in a dialogue with the digital future generation held at the center, attended by officials from both countries, representatives of Korean companies in Vietnam and youths specializing in digital technology, according to the presidential office. Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, a member of Yoon's business delegation on his state visit to Vietnam, also took part.

The Hanoi center, opened last December, is Samsung's biggest research facility in Southeast Asia and was built with an investment capital of $220 million.

Yoon emphasized the significance of the Korea-Vietnam digital partnership, which has evolved from manufacturing cooperation to a key research and development partnership.

"This is the digital age," Yoon said. "The digital age can be said to be an era of digital advancement and digital deepening, which has advanced from semiconductor chips to IT and computer networks, and now it is now earnestly developing into AI."

He said that he believes in exchanges between the countries' young people to learn advanced science and technology together and that this "will be an important bridge that will tie the future of Korea and Vietnam even more firmly."

Attendees included Vietnamese professionals who studied abroad in Korea and Korean entrepreneurs hoping to break into Vietnam's market, according to the presidential office.

Dinh Trọng Duc studied in Korea and is currently working at the Samsung Electronics R&D Center, while Kim Seung-yong, CEO of Korean startup Coconut Silo, is trying to grow his business in Vietnam.

During the trip to Vietnam, Yoon focused on encouraging expanding accessibility to Korean language education and sharing Korea's various experiences, especially to strengthen digital technology cooperation.

At the center, Yoon visited booths for Vkist and the Korea IT School, which provide educational opportunities to young people wishing to work with Korea in the science and technology fields.

Vkist, or the Vietnam-Korea Institute of Science and Technology, was established as an official development assistance project in 2014 based on the model of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in Seoul.

Likewise, the Korea IT School provides education in software, information and technology fields for Vietnamese youth, training them in skills required to be recruited by local Korean companies. Since 2019, the school has trained 208 people, of which 172 have been hired as interns by Korean companies in Vietnam.

Recalling his meeting with youths at Vietnam National University in Hanoi on Thursday, Yoon told attendees that he asked one student fluent in Korean what her reason for studying the language was.

He said she told him that she initially enjoyed listening to K-pop and wanted to understand the lyrics, but now it was her dream to study abroad in Korea to study AI technology for her dream of becoming a Vkist researcher.

"I will also spare no effort so that the Korean government and companies can make your dreams come true," Yoon continued.

Young Vietnamese professionals who received such training at the school shared their experiences at the event, including a current employee at DS Global, a printer manufacturer.

Another booth at the event was for Korean company KH Vatec, a supplier of hinges for Samsung's foldable phones.

Yoon said he expects the R&D center "will lead the future of science and technology in Korea and Vietnam."

Yoon promised to actively support joint research between the two countries and expand programs to strengthen the capabilities of the young generations in order to "form innovative values through converging Korean and Vietnamese technologies," said his office.

Later Saturday, Yoon wrapped up his six-day, two-leg trip, which took him to Paris and Hanoi.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]