During their talk on September 9 in Hanoi, Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and visiting South Korean President Park Geun-Hye agreed to take steps to raise the two countries’ two-way trade to US$70 billion by 2020, and boost many other cooperation relations.

The two Presidents expressed their pleasure at the fruitful developments in the two nations’ relations and cooperation in the past 21 years, especially after the two countries established their strategic partnership in 2009. Besides affirming the need to intensify the cooperation in economics, trade, investment, science, technology, culture, education, labor and environment, the two leaders agreed to accelerate the negotiation process of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement, a new Agreement on Labor Cooperation and the building of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology in Vietnam The two sides pledged to maintain the visits and meetings of their 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. They also agreed to the early signing of an agreement on labor cooperation to replace the former which expired in 2012, and agreed to implement the Vietnam-Korean Institute of Science and Technology project (V-KIST). The two Presidents highly appreciated close cooperation and coordination at multi-lateral forums and international organizations such as the UN, WTO, APEC and ASEM and other regional cooperative mechanisms such as ASEAN-RoK, ASEAN + 3, ARF and EAS. The two leaders were unanimous in promoting mutual trust and understanding between the two peoples through exchange activities, including language training, culture, arts and sports.

They agreed to pay due attention to protecting and ensuring the legitimate rights of their respective citizens while increasing necessary care and support for Vietnam-RoK multi-cultural families. Besides, they also discussed issues related to the Korean peninsula situation and the maintenance of peace and freedom of navigation. After the talks, the two Presidents witnessed the signing of seven cooperative documents and the two sides issued a joint statement in which the two sides agreed to promote the development of their comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership for common prosperity and the well-being of the two peoples.