(VOVWORLD) -President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee will pay a state visit to Vietnam from Thursday at the invitation of President Vo Van Thuong. On this occasion, President Yoon granted an interview to the Vietnam News Agency.
 President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Yoon Suk Yeol. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
The President said the two countries upgraded bilateral relations to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties last year. This demonstrates how committed our two countries’ governments and peoples are to solidarity, broadening the scope of cooperation and deepening bilateral exchanges.
Forward-looking cooperation between the RoK and Vietnam will also be stepped up to ensure that the two countries can prosper together, he said, adding, "We will continue to support VKIST, or the Vietnam-Korea Institute of Science and Technology, in order for it to establish itself as Vietnam’s center for scientific and technological development."
"In particular, a new grant aid project will be announced on the occasion of my upcoming state visit to help Vietnam bolster its ability to conduct research in the fields of science and technology," President Yoon said.
Vietnam is a key partner in the RoK’s Indo-Pacific strategy, and both need to further deepen and expand the extent of their primarily manufacturing-focused bilateral cooperation into finance, the retail industry, IT, cultural content and other service sectors, he went on.
"My upcoming visit to Vietnam will be the first bilateral visit to a Southeast Asian country since my inauguration as President. First and foremost, my visit this time is significant as it marks the full-fledged implementation of the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI) with Vietnam, the RoK’s key partner," the President said.