Lee Jae-myung, the president, met with Thongloun Sisolith, the president of Laos, on the 15th and said, "I hope we can further expand and develop the mutually beneficial and future-oriented cooperative relationship between the two countries, and create tangible results that the peoples of both countries can feel."
The president held a summit with President Thongloun at the presidential office in the morning. In his opening remarks at the expanded meeting, the president said, "Marking the 30th anniversary of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations this year, our two countries have decided to elevate our relationship to a comprehensive partnership," and added, "Laos, which possesses abundant natural resources, is an important partner country for building a supply chain for critical minerals."
He continued, "I am confident that you will successfully pursue the national goal of turning the geographic limitation of being a landlocked country into a new opportunity to develop into a hub for transportation and logistics in the region." He added, "In this process, Korea will stand with you as a strong partner."
President Thongloun said, "This is my first visit as president of Laos, but in fact I visited Korea several times while serving as prime minister or foreign minister." He continued, "(This year) is an opportunity to reconfirm the overall achievements the two countries have made in various fields over the past 30 years," and added, "I expect that through this opportunity, the relationship between our two countries will be elevated to a comprehensive partnership."
President Thongloun said, "Laos is currently unable to escape its LDC (least developed country) status as what is called a least developed country," and added, "We ask that you continue to provide more attention and support."
After the summit, the leaders of the two countries also signed a bilateral cooperation treaty to respond to transnational crimes such as online scam crimes. The leaders signed the "Korea-Laos Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Treaty and Extradition Treaty," and also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) related to "manpower dispatch under the Employment Permit System."