1. The 9th meeting of the ROK and Vietnamese Directors-General for Consular Affairs took place at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on April 18. The meeting was chaired by Director-General for Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs Woo In-shik and Assistant Minister and Director General of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam Nguyen Minh Vu.

※ The meeting of the ROK and Vietnamese Directors-General for Consular Affairs is a director-general-level meeting between the consular departments of the Foreign Ministries of the two countries, which takes place alternately in the ROK and Vietnam. The 8th meeting was held in Vietnam on October 29, 2014.

2. In the 9th meeting, the two sides engaged in in-depth discussions on a range of consular issues, including stepping up cooperation to protect their nationals abroad; ways to improve convenience for their nationals entering, leaving or staying in each other’s countries; support to international marriage immigrants and multicultural families; and cooperation to manage their workers.

3. In the meeting, the two sides reaffirmed their common understanding of the New Southern Policy being pursued by the ROK government, and shared the view that substantial cooperation in consular affairs will increase people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, and further facilitate cooperation in a range of other areas, including political, economic, social and cultural affairs.

4. As the need to protect their nationals staying in each other’s countries is growing amid the continued increase in people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, the two sides agreed to continue to closely work together to protect each other’s nationals in their countries.

※ People-to-people exchanges between the ROK and Vietnam

- In 2017, the number of Korean and Vietnamese visitors to each other’s countries was 2.7 million, a 50% increase from the previous year.

- About 150,000 Koreans are staying in Vietnam, and around 170,000 Vietnamese are staying in the ROK.

5. The two sides shared the view that increasing people-to-people exchanges between the two countries is the foundation for advancing the bilateral relations, and agreed to make joint efforts to further facilitate them, including simplifying procedures for visa issuance, and improving convenience for those entering, leaving or staying in each other’s countries.

o The ROK side asked for the Vietnamese side’s active cooperation to provide a stable environment for Korean people and companies in Vietnam, and the Vietnamese side proposed a range of measures to simplify procedures for visa issuance in order to increase people-to-people exchanges.

6. In addition, the two sides reaffirmed that Korean-Vietnamese multicultural families are an important asset for friendship and cooperation between the two countries, and agreed to work together to support international marriage immigrants and multicultural families.

7. The Vietnamese side asked for the ROK government’s interest to protect the rights of Vietnamese workers and women staying in the ROK. In response, the ROK side explained its government’s efforts to protect the rights of Vietnamese in the ROK.

8. The two sides agreed to hold the 10th meeting in Vietnam at an appropriate time.

* unofficial translation