1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh on August 8 on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related foreign ministerial meetings 2017 (August 6-8, Manila, the Philippines), and exchanged views on high-level exchanges, ways to strengthen substantive cooperation, the new ROK government’s ASEAN policy, and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

2. Taking note that robust people-to-people exchanges are underway between the two countries this year, a meaningful year marking the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations, the two sides agreed to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges between the two countries on various occasions, including the FEALAC Foreign Ministers' meeting in Busan on August 31 this year; the opening ceremony of an ASEAN cultural center and the ROK-Mekong Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Busan on September 1; and the APEC summit in Da Nang on November 10-11 this year.

3. As the leaders of the two countries agreed in their summit meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg in July this year, the two sides agreed to continue to strengthen substantive cooperation between the two countries, including in infrastructure, in order to achieve the goal of expanding their bilateral trade volume to US$100 billion by 2020. They especially agreed to continue to closely work together to conclude a social security agreement between the two countries by the end of this year.

4. Minister Kang said that as demonstrated by the new ROK government’s dispatch of an envoy to ASEAN immediately after its inauguration for the first time in history, the ROK government will strengthen diplomacy towards ASEAN, and offered to expand strategic partnership with Vietnam in the process. Deputy Prime Minister Minh welcomed the ROK government’s diplomatic efforts to strengthen relations with ASEAN, including the dispatch of an envoy to ASEAN, and expressed hope that the two countries will continue to enhance their strategic partnership in not only bilateral, but regional and global affairs.

5. Minister Kang expressed appreciation to the Vietnamese government for issuing a statement condemning North Korea’s continued ballistic missile launches, as well as to all ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, for being united in sending the international community’s message of no tolerance for North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles at the latest ASEAN-related meetings. Deputy Prime Minister Minh said that the Vietnamese government supports the ROK government’s policy to denuclearize North Korea and establish a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

6. Minister Kang’s meetings with all delegates from ASEAN to the ASEAN-related meetings, including the foreign ministers of ASEAN member states, ended with her meeting with the Vietnamese counterpart. The meetings served as an opportunity to strengthen ties with the foreign ministers of Southeast Asian countries and to successfully take the first step to expand the ROK’s diplomatic horizons by helping strengthen the strategic relations between the ROK and ASEAN.


* unofficial translation