1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam Nguyen Xuan Phuc for about an hour on the afternoon of September 17 as her first schedule of the official visit to Viet Nam (September 17-18).

o Minister Kang said that she was pleased to make an official visit to Viet Nam two and a half years after her last visit in March 2018 and pay a courtesy call again on Prime Minister Phuc who has shown much interest in deepening friendly relations between the Republic of Korea and Viet Nam.

o Prime Minister Phuc said that Viet Nam’s invitation to Minister Kang as the country’s first official foreign guest since COVID-19 clearly shows the special nature of the ROK-Viet Nam strategic cooperative partnership, and added that Minister Kang’s visit would further strengthen cooperative relations between the two countries.

2. Minister Kang assessed that despite some difficulty in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries have made a number of important achievements based on deep trust and robust communication at various levels.

o In particular, Minister Kang noted that about 9,000 Korean business people, students and their family members, the largest number of incoming foreigners so far, have been allowed to enter the country, which demonstrates how practically significant the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership is beyond its symbolic meaning.

3. Minister Kang went on to say that there are yet many SMEs that are facing difficulties in their business as they cannot enter Viet Nam because of its long self-quarantine period, and stressed the need to institutionalize special entry procedures between the two countries as soon as possible.

o Minister Kang, mentioning that the procedures would further facilitate bilateral exchanges, requested Prime Minister Phuc’s active support so that the two countries could make an early agreement and carry out the procedures as soon as possible.

o Prime Minister Phuc agreed with Minister Kang and said that Viet Nam, on its part, is looking into ways to establish entry procedures more favorable to business people and other essential personnel from the ROK, one of Viet Nam’s most important partners for economic cooperation.

4. Minister Kang suggested that the two countries continue to advance substantive cooperation in a range of areas while overcoming COVID-19, and Prime Minister Phuc agreed with her.

o Prime Minister Phuc suggested continuing active efforts to accomplish the “annual bilateral trade volume of US$100 billion,” which the leaders of the two countries agreed to during their summit in March 2018, and asked for the ROK’s attention to make sure that Vietnamese products have more access to Korean markets. Minister Kang agreed with Prime Minister Phuc, and said that the ROK government will also exert various efforts to establish more balanced trade relations between the two countries.

o Minister Kang expressed hope that the ROK-Viet Nam social security agreement would be signed as early as possible so that their 50,000 workers in each other’s countries can enjoy real benefits. Prime Minister Phuc said that Viet Nam considers the bilateral social security agreement crucial as the country sends many workers to the ROK.

o Minister Kang explained that Korean medical device manufacturers are confused about Viet Nam’s enacted regulations on the bidding for medical devices of public medical institutions, and asked for Viet Nam’s attention and support to resolve difficulties faced by Korean companies. Prime Minister Phuc said that his country will actively seek measures to resolve their difficulties.

o In addition, Minister Kang said that the training ship Hannara, which the ROK had decided to transfer to Viet Nam, left the Port of Busan two days ago (September 15) and will arrive in Viet Nam next week, and commended that the bilateral cooperative relations are expanding into marine affairs. Prime Minister Phuc expressed appreciation for the active interest and efforts that the ROK had shown in the process of transferring the ship.

5. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Phuc thanked the ROK government for protecting Vietnamese nationals in the ROK, especially its active support regarding the prevention of COVID-19, and asked the ROK government to continue to pay much attention to Vietnamese in the ROK and support them.

o Minister Kang said that about 60,000 Korean-Vietnamese multicultural families and some 200,000 Vietnamese in the ROK are a valuable foundation for the mutually-beneficial development of the two countries, and that the ROK will continue government-wide efforts so that Vietnamese in the ROK can live a safe and happy life.

6. Prime Minister Phuc, greatly appreciating the ROK’s New Southern Policy, said that other ASEAN countries as well as Viet Nam were deeply impressed by the success of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit and the 1st Mekong-ROK Summit held in the ROK in November last year. He went on to express hope that ASEAN-related summits would be held in a face-to-face format in November this year and President Moon Jae-in would be invited to Viet Nam again.

o Minister Kang actively agreed with him, and noted with appreciation that Viet Nam, as ASEAN’s chair, has been showing outstanding leadership even amid difficulties caused by COVID-19 this year. She also offered to continue bilateral consultations on ways to further advance the ROK-ASEAN and ROK-Mekong cooperation as well as to upgrade the ROK government’s New Southern Policy.