At the invitation of South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck Soo and his wife, on the morning of June 30, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife, along with a high-level Vietnamese delegation, departed Hanoi for an official visit to South Korea from June 30 to July 3.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife depart for a visit to South Korea. Photo: Nhat Bac

Accompanying Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh were: Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son; Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung; Minister and Head of the Government Office Tran Van Son; Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc; Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan; Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung; Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien; Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat; Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Quoc Khanh; and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung.

The delegation also included Lieutenant General Le Huy Vinh, Deputy Minister of National Defence; Vu Ho, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to South Korea; and leaders from several ministries, departments, and localities.

South Korean Deputy Ambassador to Vietnam Lee Kyoung Dock bids farewell to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife at Noi Bai Airport. Photo: Nhat Bac.

This marks Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's first official visit to South Korea and also the first official visit by a high-ranking Vietnamese leader since the two countries upgraded their relationship to a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" in 2022.

The visit takes place exactly one year after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's state visit to Vietnam in June 2023.

The visit aims to concretize the implementation of agreements reached by high-level leaders of the two countries, most recently the Action Program for the implementation of the Vietnam-Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, signed in June 2023.

During this visit, both sides reviewed the recent progress in the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, exchanged views on strategic issues, defense and security, economic cooperation, trade, investment, people-to-people exchanges, cooperation in multilateral forums, as well as many key areas of significance.

This aims to elevate the relationship between the two countries to a new level with greater political trust and more substantive and comprehensive cooperation.

More than half of the activities are focused on the economic sector.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is expected to have more than 30 activities during his nearly four-day visit to South Korea.

In addition to official meetings with high-ranking Korean leaders, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will attend and speak at three forums: the Business Forum, the Tourism Promotion and Cultural Cooperation Forum, and the Vietnam-Korea Labor Forum.

The Prime Minister attended two seminars: a seminar with leaders of Korean economic organizations and a seminar with Korean intellectuals and scientists on semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

The Prime Minister will also hold meetings with representatives of the leadership of several leading South Korean economic groups investing in Vietnam; and visit the Samsung semiconductor manufacturing plant in Pyeongtaek city, Gyeonggi province.

In addition, the Prime Minister had many notable activities such as visiting the Embassy and meeting with representatives of the Vietnamese community in South Korea; visiting a Vietnamese-Korean multicultural family, and delivering a policy speech at Seoul National University…

According to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu, more than half of the Prime Minister's activities during this visit will focus on the economic sector.

Economic cooperation has always been a bright spot and an important pillar contributing to the substantive development of bilateral relations between Vietnam and South Korea.

Thu Hang

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife depart for a visit to South Korea (vietnamnet.vn)