Tuoitrenews briefs some of the leading stories published today on Vietnamese media:

Politics:

-- Vietnam and the Republic of Korea have established many effective cooperation mechanisms over 20 years of diplomatic ties, deepening the two countries’ strategic partnership and actively contributing to regional and global stability and development, said State President Truong Tan Sang.

-- Vietnam and Cambodia have exchanged delegations at all levels to share legislative and inspection experiences as well as supported each other at multilateral forums, said National Assembly Vice Chairman Huynh Ngoc Son at a recent reception to the Chairman of the Cambodian Senate’s Committee on Finance, Banking and Audit in Hanoi.

Society:

-- Kumho Asiana Plaza Saigon Co, the owner of Kumho Asiana Plaza Saigon building in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1, has been fined VND36 million for violating local environmental law and discharging wastewater which has yet been treated properly.

-- Ho Chi Minh City police have detained over 1,800 kilograms of meats without origins illegally transported into the city. Among them, some 125 kilogram which has been decaying will be sold to a facility cooking meals for local workers.

Business:

-- Japan is the third largest trading partner and the second largest importer to Vietnam. In the first half of this year, two-way trade hit over $12 billion, a year-on-year rise of 28 percent, of which, Vietnam’s exports to Vietnam reached about $7 billion, up 45 percent from the same period of last year, according to a recent seminar held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Japanese – ASEAN center in Tokyo.

-- Asia’s largest medium-density fiber-board (MDF) factory, the $125 million MDF VRG Dongwha, a joint venture between the Dongwha Group from the Republic of Korea and the Vietnam Rubber Industry Group, has been operational in the Minh Hung III industrial zone in the southern Binh Phuoc Province’s Chon Thanh District, after taking more than two years to build.