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| ▲ South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a meeting with South Korean residents in Vietnam at a Hanoi hotel on June 22, 2023. Yoon is on a three-day state visit to the Southeast Asian country. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, are greeted by children during a meeting with South Korean residents in Vietnam at a Hanoi hotel on June 22, 2023. Yoon is on a three-day state visit to the Southeast Asian country. (Yonhap) |
Yoon-Koreans-Vietnam
Yoon meets with Koreans in Vietnam
By Lee Haye-ah
HANOI, June 22 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol met with a group of Koreans residing in Vietnam on Thursday, kicking off a three-day state visit aimed at deepening economic cooperation between the two countries.
The meeting took place over lunch at a hotel in Hanoi, shortly after Yoon arrived in the country on the second leg of a two-nation tour that earlier took him to France.
"My visit to Vietnam today will be the starting point for a new 30 years in the bilateral relationship going forward," he said, addressing more than 300 Koreans gathered, including Park Hang-seo, the South Korean former head coach of Vietnam men's national football.
"Vietnam is a key cooperation state to the Republic of Korea in building a free, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific," he said, referring to South Korea by its formal name.
South Korea and Vietnam marked the 30th anniversary since establishing diplomatic relations last year, with then Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc making a state visit to Seoul in December. Yoon and Phuc agreed at the time to elevate the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Since diplomatic relations were established, bilateral trade has increased 175 times, while the number of visitors to each other's countries has grown 2,400 times, Yoon said.
He also noted that Vietnam has the largest Korean community among member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, with over 170,000 people.
Yoon pledged to do his best to support the Korean community, including through the recently launched Overseas Koreans Agency, which was one of his campaign pledges.
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