Hanoi (VNA) – Acting President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh hosted a reception inHanoi on September 26 for Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea (RoK) LeeNak-yeon, who is in Vietnam to pay tribute to President Tran Dai Quang.

The Acting President thanked RoK President Moon Jae-in and his spouse forsending condolences to the Vietnamese Party, State and people, and the familyof President Quang.

PM Lee leading a high-raking delegation from the RoK Government to Vietnam topay homage to the President shows that the RoK State and Government attachimportance to the Vietnam-RoK strategic cooperative partnership, she said.

President Quang’s passing is a great loss to the Party, State and people ofVietnam as well as his family, Thinh stressed, adding that the President madevaluable contributions to developing the bilateral cooperation to a new level.

The RoK PM extended his deep sympathies to the Vietnamese State and people, andthe family of President Tran Dai Quang, affirming that the President greatlycontributed to elevating ties between his country and Vietnam.


He recalled a State visit to Vietnam by President Moon Jae-in in March 2018,during which the two sides issued a Joint Statement toward the future. The RoKGovernment is actively realising commitments between President Tran Dai Quangand President Moon Jae-in.

Acting President Thinh noted with pleasure the effective and practicaldevelopment in various fields of the Vietnam-RoK strategic cooperativepartnership.

The Party,State and people of Vietnam always treasure and wish to deepen the strategiccooperative partnership with the RoK, in line with the common perception of thetwo countries’ leaders and particularly the Vietnam-RoK Joint Statement towardthe future signed in 2018, thus meeting the aspirations of their people as wellas contributing to maintaining peace, cooperation and development in the regionand the world, she said.

Thinh highlighted great potential for bilateral cooperation, saying the twosides should continue consolidating political trust, regularly maintainhigh-level exchanges and contacts in flexible forms, and create a favourablepolitical environment to foster collaboration in various fields.

Vietnam and the RoK need to continue stepping up connections between theirministries, agencies and localities, with a view to lifting two-way trade to100 billion USD by 2020, she said.

She expressed her wish that the RoK will increase support for Vietnam in termsof capital and science-technology by continuing to provide developmentassistance for the Southeast Asian nation.

The two countries should expand cultural and people-to-people exchanges andcooperation in education and tourism, while supporting, protecting andproviding favourable conditions for each other’s citizens, she added.

For hispart, PM Lee said that as the RoK and Vietnam are enjoying intensive, reliableand continuously developing collaboration in all spheres, the goal of raisingtwo-way trade to 100 billion USD in 2020 is feasible.

He said his country wishes to cooperate with and assist Vietnam in areas of itsstrength such as science-technology, infrastructure, smart city, clean energy,human resources training, public administration, and e-government building.

He thanked the Vietnamese Party and State for creating favourable conditionsfor Korean citizens to live, work and study in Vietnam, affirming that the RoKGovernment will work hard to enable the Korean-Vietnamese multi-culturalfamilies to lead a stable life in the country, making them firm bridges for promotingthe bilateral friendship.

Expressing his belief that Vietnam will see rapid economic developments in thefuture, the PM asserted that his country will always accompany Vietnam in itsdevelopment.-VNA