Vietnam-Korea Relations
Sept. 2nd, 1945 is the most important landmark in Vietnamese history. It was the date of establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and is also considered to be the National Independence Day of the current unified Socialist Republic of Vietnam. President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence at Ba Dinh Square, officially declaring the independence and sovereignty of Vietnam from colonialization and the occupation of France and Japan. In an interview with BusinessKorea on the occasion of Vietnam’s National Day, H.E. Pham Huu Chi, Vietnamese ambassador to South Korea, expressed his sincere thanks to all Korean friends who have been side by side with him in promoting the friendship between the two peoples of Vietnam and Korea. The following are excerpts from the interview with him.
First of all, please explain the brief history of diplomatic and economic ties between Vietnam and Korea.
Vietnam-Korea diplomatic relations were established on Dec. 22, 1992, and since then the two countries have spared no time and effort in further strengthening the bilateral relations to higher and higher levels.
The bilateral relations were enhanced to a Comprehensive Partnership level in August 2001 during the Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong’s visit to Korea, and were further upgraded to a Strategic Cooperative Partnership in 2009 during Korean President Lee Myeong-bak’s state visit to Vietnam. The two sides have maintained regular visits by leaders of the two countries, and expanded bilateral exchanges in other areas of security, defense, culture, and people-to-people exchange.
The economic cooperation has been vigorously strengthened with a bilateral trade turnover in 2013 more than 40 times higher than in 1993, in which Korea's exports to Vietnam were about US$21 billion, while imports were about US$7.1 billion. We expect that the bilateral FTA negotiation will be concluded within this year in order to enable both sides to reach the target of US$70 billion in two-way trade turnover by 2020 as set by Leaders of both countries in September of last year.
We have seen the increasing presence of Korean investors in Vietnam nowadays with more than 3,500 Korean investment projects and committed capital of more than US$30 billion. In 2013, Korea was the third largest foreign investor in Vietnam with US$4.46 billion, accounted for 20 percent of FDI inflow to Vietnam. There were some significant FDI projects from Korean enterprises to Vietnam, namely Samsung Electronics’ investment of US$2 billion for a second smart phone factory in Thai Nguyen and the company’s increased capital of US$1 billion for the first factory in Bac Ninh, LG’s investment of US$1.5 billion in Hai Phong, the US$400 million Lotte Centre in Hanoi, etc. In the first half of 2014, South Korea holds the 1st rank in FDI in Vietnam with committed capital of US$1.55 billion among 29 countries investing in Vietnam.Moreover, Vietnam is also the main beneficiary of Korea’s foreign aid. KOICA had already started its aid activity in 1991, one year before diplomatic normalization, and now Korea is ranked 2nd among foreign ODA providers for Vietnam, with commitments of US$1 billion for the period of 2008-2011 and US$1.2 billion for 2011-2015. Korea’s development aid to Vietnam is distinctive in that it focuses on socio-economic development by sharing development experience through education and vocational training. Korea has built many vocational schools, training institutions, and hospitals in remote and underdeveloped areas in Vietnam. Vietnamese farmers are learning about the Saemaeul Movement, a new community movement that turned poverty-stricken Korean rural areas into modern farmland. Korea is also helping Vietnam invest in IT and the high-tech industry through the transfer of expertise and experience in these areas.
Furthermore, cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Korea have also been boosted along with our strengthened political and economic cooperation. Sharing a long historical and cultural background, Koreans and Vietnamese have found no obstacles to promoting cultural exchanges. Cultural cooperation constitutes an important and indispensable part of our bilateral relations. This year, we have been organizing a number of cultural events, including a Vietnamese Film Festival in April this year in Seoul and Vietnamese Drama Performance show held in Incheon in early September this year. The annual Vietnamese Culture and Tourism Festival was held by the Ministries of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam and Korea in Seoul and Gwangju in mid-September. In addition to frequent exchanges of traditional and contemporary performances and exhibitions, there is widespread enthusiasm for Korean pop culture, or Hallyu, among Vietnamese youth. Hallyu in Southeast Asia is said to have started in Ho Chi Minh City, where the first Korean TV drama serials “Feeling” and “Golden Grass” aired in 1997. In addition, there is also increased interest in Korean studies in Vietnam, which now estimates approximately 100 professors at ten universities with about 2,000 students. In Korea, Vietnamese studies are established at four universities, and the numbers are growing.
Also with deepening bilateral relations in the socio-economic area, people-to-people contacts have greatly increased. Last year, roughly 800,000 Korean tourists visited Vietnam and 120,000 Vietnamese tourists visited Korea. More than 30 municipalities from each country are bound in sisterhood. More than 120,000 Vietnamese, including 60,000 workers and a similar number of Vietnamese women brides, are living in Korea, while about 130,000 Koreans are living in Vietnam. The Korean-Vietnamese families have been contributing to bridging the two peoples with kinship and laying solid foundation for ever-strengthening family ties between the two countries.
Last but not least, Korea and Vietnam have also closely cooperated in regional and global issues. Our cooperation is not only strengthened within the regional framework of ASEAN, ASEAN+3, APEC, ASEM, and EAS, but also expand to other major global issues such as sustainable development, climate change, nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, antiterrorism, the maintenance of peace and stability, and the freedom of navigation in the waters in East Asia.
Korean President Park Geun-hye and Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang had summit talks on Sept. 9, 2013. Please let us know the major issues discussed and agreed on during the summit.
President Park Geun-hye had a fiveday state visit to Vietnam last September and met with all leaders of Vietnam, including Vietnamese Communist Party Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong, President Truong Tan Sang, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Sinh Hung.
In the spirit of friendship and mutual trust, the summit between the two Presidents focused on bilateral relations and regional and international issues of common concern.
The leaders expressed their delight at the broad and effective development of the friendship and cooperation between the two countries in all fields since the establishment of their diplomatic ties, particularly after the launch of a bilateral strategic cooperative partnership in 2009.
The leaders agreed to maintain the visits and meetings of high-ranking leaders as well as officials from the two countries’ ministries, agencies and localities, while effectively preserving dialogue mechanisms between them to deepen their relations in order to consolidate mutual political trust and cooperation.
They emphasized the need for further intensifying bilateral cooperation in economics and trade, investment, development cooperation, science and technology, employment, environment, culture and education, Official Development Assistance (ODA), tourism, and labor. They also agreed to make every effort to raise two-way trade to US$70 billion by 2020, improve the bilateral trade balance, and accelerate the negotiations for the signing of the VietnamRoK FTA within 2014. They shared the view on the early signing of an agreement on labor cooperation to replace the former which expired in 2012, and agreed to implement the Viet NamKorean Institute of Science and Technology project (V-KIST).
The leaders concurred to strengthen mutual trust and understanding between the two peoples through diverse exchange activities, including language training, culture and arts, sports and youth exchanges. They also agreed to continue protecting and ensuring the legitimate rights of their respective citizens while increasing the necessary care and support for Viet Nam-RoK multicultural families so that they can act as a bridge between the two countries.
The two leaders expressed their satisfaction at the two countries’ close collaboration and cooperation at multilateral forums and international organizations, such as the U.N., the World Trade Organization (WTO), the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and regional cooperation mechanisms including ASEAN-RoK, ASEAN+3, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the East Asia Summit (EAS). They also exchanged views on the Korean peninsula situation and the maintenance of peace and freedom of navigation.
After the summit, the two leaders witnessed the signing of seven cooperation agreements between Vietnam and the RoK.