Vietnam-South Korea ties to be upgraded to 'comprehensive strategic partnership'

Vietnam and South Korea agreed Tuesday to elevate their relationship to a "comprehensive strategic partnership" as the two countries mark the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic ties this year.

Visiting South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son in Hanoi and agreed to lift the two countries' relationship from their current strategic partnership, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the same day.

The two foreign ministers agreed to make official the envisioned relationship upgrade on the occasion of a future bilateral summit.

The officials agreed to coordinate closely to promote all-level mutual visits and meetings in flexible forms, pay more attention to enhancing ties in diplomacy, defense and security, and maximize existing bilateral dialogue and cooperation mechanisms, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The Vietnamese foreign minister said he highly valued the sustained economic partnership, especially in investment and trade, amid the adverse impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. He asked both sides to maintain efforts to achieve the trade target of $100 billion by 2023 and $150 billion by 2030 in a balanced manner through bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms like the Vietnam-RoK Free Trade Agreement, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Minister Park affirmed that his government attached importance to Vietnam’s role in the region and wishes to develop all-around relations with the Southeast Asian nation.

Sharing Vietnam’s concern about the promotion of balanced trade, he asked the Vietnamese government to create more favorable conditions for South Korean enterprises in the country to stabilize supply chains after the pandemic. He stated that his foreign ministry would continue working closely with its Vietnamese counterparts and other agencies of the two countries to achieve their targets in all aspects.

South Korea is one of Vietnam's top investors and trading partners.