Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse Le Thi Bich Tran will pay a four-day official visit to South Korea starting June 30 at the invitation of his South Korean counterpart Han Duck Soo and his spouse, Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday.  

This is Vietnam’s highest-level visit to South Korea since the two countries upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022, on the occasion of 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

PM Chinh's forthcoming trip will mark the eighth visit of a Vietnamese prime minister to South Korea since the two countries set up their diplomatic ties in late 1992. 

During the visit that will last until July 3, the Vietnamese government leader will have important meetings with senior South Korean leaders, including President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck Soo.

“The visit is expected to serve as an opportunity to further deepen the mutually beneficial, practical, and strategic cooperation between the two countries across all sectors,” Yonhap News Agency cited PM Han’s office as saying.

Within the framework of this visit, PM Chinh will meet many large South Korean economic groups, calling on them to boost investment in Vietnam, especially in the fields of South Korea’s strengths and Vietnam’s needs.

Korean businesses are especially interested in PM Chinh’s visit and have prepared for their scheduled separate meetings with him, according to the Korea Broadcasting System (KBS).

PM Chinh is set to attend the Korea-Vietnam Business Forum, hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KORCHAM) in Seoul on July 1 and chaired by Cho Hyun Sang, chairman of the Korea-Vietnam Economic Cooperation Committee.

The event will attract more than 300 attendees from the South Korean side, including South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Ahn Duk Geun as well as leaders of large corporations such as Samsung, SK, Hyundai, LG, and Posco.

On the Vietnamese side, there will be over 100 participants, including PM Chinh, the ministers of planning and investment, and foreign Affairs, along with representatives of Vietnamese businesses.

On the sidelines of the forum, Cho, who is also vice-chairman of South Korean industrial chaebol Hyosung, is expected to have a private meeting with PM Chinh to discuss bilateral cooperation plans, according to KBS.

It is expected that many memoranda of understanding will be signed by the two sides within the framework of the event. 

Currently, Vietnam is one of the three top trading partners of South Korea, with two-way trade amounting to about US$76 billion in 2023 and expected to reach $100 billion in 2025, according to official figures.

Over the first four months of this year, the bilateral trade was recorded at $25.5 billion, up four percent year year on year.

By April, South Korea was the largest foreign investor in Vietnam with 9,957 projects totaling over $87 billion.

Approximately 3.6 million South Korean tourists visited Vietnam last year, ranking first among international visitors to the country, and South Korea maintained this position in the first four months of 2024 with 1.6 million visitors to Vietnam, according to official statistics. 

Currently, around 200,000 Vietnamese are living in South Korea, while the number of South Koreans residing in Vietnam is almost the same, according to the Vietnam News Agency. 

After establishing their diplomatic relations on December 22, 1992, Vietnam and South Korea upgraded their ties to a strategic partnership in October 2009 and then to a comprehensive strategic partnership in December 2022.

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