Politically , the two sides maintain good relations through all channels of the Party, Government, and National Assembly. High-level exchanges continue to be maintained in many flexible forms, thereby continuously strengthening political trust.

Korea continues to be Vietnam's No. 1 investment partner; No. 2 tourist market; No. 2 ODA provider; No. 3 trade partner; and No. 3 labor market. In 2024, bilateral trade turnover will reach 81.5 billion USD, up 7.3% over the previous year.

Of which, exports to South Korea reached 25.6 billion USD, up 9.1%; imports from South Korea reached 55.9 billion USD, up 6.5%; trade deficit with South Korea was worth 30.3 billion USD.

Bilateral cooperation mechanisms continue to be maintained, such as the Deputy Prime Minister-level Economic Dialogue, the Vietnam-Korea Intergovernmental Committee on Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, and the Ministerial-level Joint Committee on Cooperation in the Field of Nuclear Power, Energy and Industry. The two sides are coordinating to implement the “Action Plan to Achieve the Target of a More Balanced Trade Value of 150 Billion by 2030”.

Regarding labor cooperation, the two sides signed an extension of the Memorandum of Understanding on sending and receiving Vietnamese workers to work in Korea under the Korean Employment Permit System (EPS) in June 2023, effective for 2 years from the date of signing.

In 2024, Korea will continue to be Vietnam's third largest overseas labor market. About 7,900 EPS workers will be accepted by Korea, bringing the total number of Vietnamese workers in Korea to about 88,000 (including EPS workers, skilled workers and seasonal workers).

In 2024, 4.6 million Koreans will visit Vietnam and 600,000 Vietnamese will visit Korea. This is the first time that the number of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries has exceeded 5 million. In the first quarter of 2025, Korea is the second largest tourist market of Vietnam with 1.26 million visitors, an increase of 2.2% over the same period in 2024, accounting for 21% of the total number of foreign visitors to Vietnam.

In 2024, the total number of Vietnamese people living and working in Korea will be about 320,000, an increase of 50,000 people compared to 2023.

Of these, nearly 100,000 are international students, over 100,000 are other workers, over 40,000 are brides who married Korean men (not counting those who have acquired Korean citizenship); the rest are under investment cooperation, visiting relatives, and short-term work. The descendants of the Ly Hoa Son and Ly Tinh Thien families are estimated at about 1,000 people.

On August 6, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son had a phone call with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun.

During the phone call, the two leaders agreed to continue cooperation and enhance political trust between the two countries through the exchange of high-level delegations and all levels, including organizing upcoming high-level visits; strengthening cooperation in the fields of economics, trade and investment, promoting Korean enterprises to invest in Vietnam, and creating favorable conditions for enterprises of the two countries to access each other's markets.

The two countries also promote cooperation in the fields of security - defense, science - technology as well as close cooperation and mutual support at international forums, including the ASEAN - Korea and Mekong - Korea mechanisms.

The two sides also affirmed that they will closely coordinate to successfully organize the 2025 APEC Summit in Korea and the Mekong-Korea Summit at the end of 2025.




Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-va-phu-nhan-sap-tham-han-quoc-2429597.html