Việt Nam’s State President Lương Cường and his counterpart from the Republic of Korea (RoK) Yoon Suk Yeol in Lima on Saturday. — VNA/VNS Photo Lâm Khánh

LIMA — Việt Nam’s State President Lương Cường met his counterpart from the Republic of Korea (RoK) Yoon Suk Yeol on the sidelines of the 2024 APEC Economic Leaders' Week in Lima, Peru, on Saturday (local time).

The two leaders expressed their delight at the robust development of the Việt Nam-RoK relations, which are at their best to date, especially following the elevation of the bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Cường affirmed that Việt Nam always attaches importance to its relationship with the RoK, saying the two countries have become reliable, effective, and pragmatic partners across a wide range of areas, including politics, economy, trade, culture, and people-to-people exchange.

He conveyed the warm regards from Party General Secretary Tô Lâm, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, and National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn to Yoon and other leaders of the RoK.

For his part, Yoon congratulated Cường on his new role, stressing that Việt Nam remains a key partner of the RoK in advancing the ASEAN-RoK Solidarity Initiative and the RoK’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.

With regard to future cooperation, the two leaders agreed to maintain regular exchange of delegations and high-level contacts, share updates on domestic developments as well as views on international and regional issues of mutual concern.

They pledged to continue fostering economic cooperation, aiming to achieve a bilateral trade volume of US$100 billion in the near term and $150 billion by 2030 in a more balanced manner.

The RoK agreed to prioritise support for Việt Nam in key areas, including training high-quality human resources, establishing R&D centres, transferring technology, and helping Vietnamese businesses further integrate into global supply chains led by Korean groups.

The RoK will provide ODA for Việt Nam at larger scales and preferential terms to invest in projects on strategic infrastructure, climate change response, green transition, and energy transformation.

The two sides consented to collaborate closely in international and regional issues of shared concern and to support each other’s candidacies at multilateral cooperation mechanisms and international organisations.

For the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea) issue, they underscored the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight, resolving disputes through peaceful means, and in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

On this occasion, Cường invited Yoon to visit Việt Nam and expressed his appreciation for the latter’s invitation to visit the RoK at an appropriate time. The two agreed to arrange these visits through diplomatic channels. — VNA/VNS