President Lee Jae-myung, on a state visit to Vietnam, met with local Koreans and said, "We will develop the current top-level (bilateral) cooperative ties into a more future-oriented and more strategic level."
On the 22nd, President Lee held a luncheon meeting with Koreans in Hanoi and said, "Marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and Vietnam in 2022, the bilateral relationship was elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and we became a key partner that cooperates across all fields in an all-around way," and stated accordingly.
President Lee plans to discuss cooperation in various areas with the local leadership during his visit to Vietnam. In particular, he said, "We will expand cooperation in strategic sectors such as nuclear power, infrastructure, science and technology, and innovation, and we will also engage in higher-level cooperation on global tasks such as supply chain stability, sustainable growth, and responses to climate change."
President Lee said, "The relationship between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea is truly special." He noted that India's population is 15 times larger than Vietnam's, yet India has 12,000 Korean residents while Vietnam has 200,000. He added, "The two countries are among each other's top three trading partners, and last year bilateral trade reached a whopping $94.6 billion, showing tremendous growth," and "Also, Korea is Vietnam's largest investor."
He also mentioned commonalities between the two countries. President Lee introduced, "The two nations share much in common in that they overcame foreign powers through their own strength, suffered the pain of division and the agony of fratricidal war, and then rose tall."
He cited their love of soccer as another similarity. Referring to the fact that the Vietnam under-22 (U-22) national soccer team is coached by Kim Sang-sik, President Lee said, "Vietnamese people, like Koreans, really love soccer."
He continued, "I was once an owner of a soccer club, and while trying to make it successful, I was slapped with a strange charge and put on trial." The remark appears to allude to the past investigation into the so-called "Seongnam FC sponsorship allegations."
President Lee said, "Our popular sovereignty government will do its best to carefully look into and promptly resolve the difficulties that multicultural families abroad are now experiencing in order to build an inclusive Republic of Korea," and added, "We will listen closely to the voices of Vietnamese Koreans and take good care of them."