Lee Jae-myung Pledges Expanded Strategic Cooperation With Vietnam on Nuclear, Infrastructure

Lee Jae-myung said April 22 (local time) that South Korea will expand cooperation with Vietnam in strategic areas including nuclear power, infrastructure and science and technology innovation, while stepping up coordination on global challenges such as supply chain stability, sustainable growth and climate change.

Speaking at a luncheon meeting with Koreans in Vietnam at a hotel in Hanoi, Lee, who is on a state visit, said he aims to use the trip to develop what he called the two countries’ already top-level cooperation into a more future-oriented and strategic partnership.

Lee noted that since establishing diplomatic relations in 1992, the two countries have become each other’s top three trading partners within a generation. He said Vietnam is South Korea’s largest destination for investment, with about 10,000 South Korean companies operating there.

The two countries upgraded ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022, marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

Lee said South Korea and Vietnam have much in common, citing shared historical, cultural and economic bonds. He pointed to long periods of foreign domination, efforts to overcome hardship through their own strength, and the pain of division and war, adding that both societies share emotional ties rooted in the Confucian cultural sphere.

Lee also encouraged athletes, singling out Kim Sang-sik, head coach of Vietnam’s national soccer team, who attended the luncheon. Noting that soccer is called the “king sport” in Vietnam, Lee joked that Kim would then be the “king of kings,” calling it “something to be truly proud of.”

Lee, who said he once served as owner of Seongnam FC while he was mayor of Seongnam, added, “I also was once a soccer club owner, and while trying to make it succeed, I ended up being accused of a strange crime and am now on trial.”

Turning to the Korean community in Vietnam, Lee said it has grown to about 200,000 people, making it the largest among ASEAN countries and the world’s fifth-largest Korean community. He expressed support for the community and said about 100,000 South Korea-Vietnam multicultural families are a valuable foundation linking the two countries by blood but face various difficulties. He pledged that the “people’s sovereignty government” would closely examine those challenges and do its best to resolve them quickly to build an inclusive South Korea.

Lee began his state-visit schedule with the meeting and was set to hold a summit later that afternoon with To Lam, the Communist Party general secretary and state president. It will be Lee’s first meeting with Lam since August last year, eight months ago. Lam also assumed the post of Vietnam’s state president in April this year.

An official welcoming ceremony was to be held beforehand in the main garden of the Presidential Palace in Hanoi.

The schedule was to include a small-group summit, expanded talks, an exchange of memorandums of understanding, and a joint press statement. A state banquet was planned after the summit.