Vietnamese State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc left Hanoi on Sunday morning for a state visit to South Korea at the invitation of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

During his visit to South Korea from Sunday to Tuesday, President Phuc will hold talks with President Yoon and meet Prime Minister Han Duck Soo and Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin Pyo.

He will also have meetings with major Korean business leaders and overseas Vietnamese, as well as attend the opening of the Vietnam Day program in South Korea.

The visit takes place in the context that the two countries are celebrating 30 years of diplomatic relations, with the strategic cooperative partnership developing positively and effectively.

The state leader will be accompanied by Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien, Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung, and Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan, among other high-ranking officials.

President Phuc is the first senior foreign leader to pay a state visit to South Korea since President Yoon took office, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

Vietnam and South Korea established their diplomatic relations on December 22, 1992.

In August 2001, the two nations issued a joint statement on their comprehensive partnership on the occasion of Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong's visit to South Korea.

In October 2009, the bilateral ties were upgraded to a strategic cooperative partnership during the Vietnam visit by President Lee Myung-bak.

As of September, South Korea remained the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam with US$80.52 billion, accounting for 18.6 percent of the total investment in the Southeast Asian country.

The East Asian nation was also the third-biggest trade partner of Vietnam with two-way trade reaching $66.65 billion in 2019, $65 billion in 2020, and $78 billion in 2021.

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