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Secretary-General To Lam Holds Talks with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung

12 August, 2025

Reaffirming Vietnam’s importance to the region, President Lee Jae Myung emphasized South Korea’s willingness to accompany Vietnam in its upcoming development stages – Photo: VNA

At the talks, President Lee Jae Myung affirmed that South Korea always considers Vietnam a key partner in implementing its foreign policies in the region. The President highlighted that the visit by General Secretary To Lam, in his capacity as the highest leader of Vietnam, holds special significance, further promoting and deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries in the next stage.

General Secretary To Lam affirmed that Vietnam consistently attaches great importance to its relationship with South Korea in its foreign policy and wishes to work with South Korea to orient the cooperation between the two countries towards new, substantive, effective, and long-term developments in all fields – Photo: VNA

General Secretary To Lam affirmed that Vietnam consistently attaches great importance to its relationship with South Korea in its foreign policy and wishes to work with President Lee Jae Myung and other Korean leaders to orient the cooperation between the two countries towards new, substantive, effective, and long-term developments in all fields, commensurate with the highest diplomatic relations established between the two countries.

In a sincere and friendly atmosphere, the two leaders held comprehensive and strategic exchanges on the situation of each country and Vietnam-Korea relations. They expressed their delight at the remarkable development of Vietnam-Korea relations over the past 30 years, especially since the upgrade of bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

General Secretary To Lam and President Lee Jae Myung agreed to continue solidifying political trust and enhancing strategic coordination in crucial fields of diplomacy, defense, and security. They also agreed to expand cooperation across all channels, including Party, State, Government, National Assembly, and people-to-people exchanges, thereby creating a foundation to promote and expand bilateral cooperation in all domains.

The two leaders consented to direct relevant agencies and localities of the two countries to effectively implement cooperation agreements, especially the “Action Plan for the Implementation of the Vietnam-Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.”

Sharing a common vision, the leaders agreed to jointly shape and implement a new strategic vision for Vietnam-Korea economic ties, transforming the relationship from market-based cooperation to co-development, focusing on production chains, and high-quality human resources development. They aim to elevate the economic partnership to a new height, befitting the needs and interests of both countries in the current context.

They also agreed to continue facilitating trade, opening markets for each other’s goods, and supporting Vietnamese businesses to deeper engage in the global supply chains of Korean enterprises, thus soon achieving the bilateral trade turnover target of 150 billion USD by 2030.

The leaders agreed to elevate science and technology cooperation as a new pillar and highlight in the bilateral relationship, enabling Vietnam to become a value-creating partner with South Korea in science, technology, and innovation.

General Secretary To Lam affirmed that Vietnam is ready to create favorable conditions for large Korean businesses to expand their investments in Vietnam, prioritizing areas where Korea has strengths and suits Vietnam’s new development orientation, including infrastructure development, high-tech electronics manufacturing, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), and renewable energy, and smart cities.

President Lee Jae Myung wished that Vietnam would pay attention to and support Korean businesses to expand and improve their long-term business and investment activities in Vietnam, as well as facilitate their participation in Vietnam’s key projects. He emphasized that South Korea continues to consider Vietnam a crucial strategic partner in development cooperation and pledged to further increase the scale of ODA for areas of Vietnam’s interest, such as infrastructure, research and development, and response to climate change.

The South Korean President affirmed that they would increase quotas and expand sectors for receiving Vietnamese laborers.

General Secretary To Lam held a restricted meeting with President Lee Jae Myung – Photo: VNA

The two sides agreed to strengthen cultural, educational, and people-to-people exchanges so that, in the journey of shared development, cultural and people-to-people exchanges will not only be the glue that binds the two countries together but also serve as a strategic foundation for their companionship.

General Secretary To Lam requested South Korea to share its experience in developing the cultural and entertainment industries and coordinate in the early establishment of the Vietnam Cultural Center in Korea. He also suggested enhancing cooperation between Vietnamese educational institutions and leading Korean universities and businesses to create a high-quality human resource system that aligns with the development orientation of both sides.

Delighted by the 5 million bilateral tourist arrivals in 2024, the two leaders looked forward to further robust development in tourism cooperation.

During the talks, General Secretary To Lam and President Lee Jae Myung also exchanged views on international and regional issues of shared concern. They underlined the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea, ensuring legitimate rights and interests in accordance with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They also agreed that progress in inter-Korean relations and the establishment of long-term peace on the Korean Peninsula are essential for the peace and prosperity of not only the Peninsula but also the international community.

Immediately after the talks, General Secretary To Lam and President Lee Jae Myung witnessed the exchange of ten cooperation documents between ministries, sectors, and agencies of the two countries in the fields of defense, security, economy, trade, labor, and culture…

Following the document exchange ceremony, the top leaders of the two countries jointly met with the press to inform about the results of the high-level talks.