General Secretary To Lam is the first foreign guest received by President Lee Jae Myung’s administration, demonstrating the RoK’s strong emphasis on cooperation with Viet Nam as well as the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries. This is also the first visit to the RoK by a Vietnamese General Secretary in 11 years.
The visit takes place in the context of Viet Nam–RoK relations being in their best development period ever, especially after the two countries officially upgraded their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in December 2022, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Political trust between the two countries has been steadily consolidated. Both sides have vigorously promoted visits, exchanges, and contacts between high-ranking leaders while deepening cooperation across all channels of Government, National Assembly, political parties, and social organisations.
President Lee Jae Myung reaffirmed that the RoK attaches special importance to its relations with Viet Nam in the overall relationship with Asian countries. Meanwhile, the consistent policy of the Party and State of Viet Nam is to boost relations with the RoK to a new, substantive, effective, comprehensive, and long-term level in all fields, both bilaterally and multilaterally.
Deep political trust is a solid foundation for Viet Nam and the RoK to make significant strides in bilateral cooperation in various fields, particularly in economics, trade, and investment, as demonstrated by vivid statistics.
The RoK is the largest foreign investor, the second-largest partner in development cooperation, and the third-largest in trading partner of Viet Nam. In 2024, two-way trade revenue reached 81.5 billion USD, up 7.3% compared to 2023.
Based on these positive results, both sides are actively implementing plans to raise bilateral trade to 150 billion USD by 2030, with a more balanced structure.
In terms of development cooperation, the RoK continues to regard Viet Nam as the leading important partner. It has pledged close cooperation to effectively implement bilateral development cooperation projects worth 200 million USD in the 2024–2027 period, to support the second phase of the Viet Nam–RoK Institute of Science and Technology project, and to promote loans worth 4 billion USD from 2023 to 2030, focusing on strategic transport infrastructure, energy infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and climate change adaptation infrastructure.
Science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and environmental protection are also potential fields for bilateral cooperation. The two sides held the 9th Ministerial-level meeting of the Viet Nam–RoK Joint Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation, at which they agreed to conduct joint research in six areas: information technology, biotechnology, climate technology, nanotechnology, digital transformation, and new/renewable energy. The Ministry of Science and Technology is working with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to implement the Viet Nam–RoK partnership for the future programme through research, development, and innovation in science and technology fields and to support Viet Nam’s industrialisation.
Apart from these remarkable achievements in fields of economics, trade, investment, and science–technology cooperation, the enduring friendship between the peoples of the two countries is a highlight in Viet Nam–RoK relations.
The friendship is woven first and foremost through the efforts of leaders and functional agencies of both countries, which frequently organise promotional events and cultural and tourism exchanges. In the first five months of 2025, Viet Nam welcomed 1.9 million visitors from the RoK, making it the second-largest source of international tourists to Viet Nam.
In addition, the community of over 350,000 Vietnamese living and working in the RoK is an important bridge, helping further strengthen the close friendship between the peoples of the two nations.
The state visit to the RoK by General Secretary To Lam and his spouse, along with the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, is an important event for both countries. It will further enhance political trust and bilateral cooperation in economics, trade, and investment, while fostering new pillars in science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and human resources development cooperation.
The visit will also help spread the image of a Viet Nam that continues to renew itself, stepping into a new era of national rising. This development journey cannot be separated from the companionship, comprehensive, extensive, timely, and effective support of the international friends, especially comprehensive strategic partners such as the RoK.
