The meeting between Party General Secretary Tô Lâm and Speaker of the Republic of Korea's National Assembly Woo Won Shik in Hà Nội on November 21. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Party General Secretary Tô Lâm received Speaker of the Republic of Korea (RoK)'s National Assembly Woo Won Shik in Hà Nội on November 21, expressing his hope that the two countries will continue to be close friends and trustworthy partners as they pursue their development goals and aspirations.

At the meeting, the Party leader said that with the shared fundamental strategic interests and the cooperation achievements over the years, Việt Nam and the RoK now enjoy favourable conditions to shape a new strategic vision for cooperation and to create fresh opportunities for joint development.

For his part, Speaker Woo voiced his belief that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Việt Nam, headed by General Secretary Lâm, and with its own potential and determination, Việt Nam will continue to achieve robust growth in the coming years and soon realise its goal of becoming a high-income and developed nation by 2045. He stressed that the RoK will accompany Việt Nam in successfully fulfilling this important goal.

Party General Secretary Lâm welcomed the fruitful talks between Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Trần Thanh Mẫn and Speaker Woo, expressing the wish that the two legislative bodies will continue to enhance their role in promoting economic cooperation and carry out diverse exchange and joint activities, helping strengthen political trust and ties between their lawmakers.

He suggested that both sides continue expanding collaboration and maintaining regular delegation exchanges between their Parties, States, Governments, and National Assemblies, thus enabling further cooperation across all fields. The leader also asked for the timely sharing of views on bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues of mutual concern, thereby deepening the Việt Nam–RoK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Praising the effective cooperation between the two parliaments in supervising the implementation of the agreements signed between the two Governments, Party General Secretary Lâm proposed that the RoK continue to support capacity building for Vietnamese enterprises so that they can participate more deeply in the global supply chains of Korean companies. This will help both sides reach the trade target of US$150 billion by 2030 in a balanced and sustainable manner.

He also called on the two countries to turn cooperation in science–technology, innovation, and digital transformation into a new pillar of their relationship; to strengthen cooperation in human resources training and strategic technology development; and to promote collaboration in building core infrastructure such as artificial intelligence (AI), next-generation networks, and data centres, alongside developing the legal and institutional frameworks needed to jointly advance into the AI-driven digital era.

The Party leader also suggested enhancing cooperation between friendship organisations and boosting people-to-people exchanges to help deepen bilateral ties. He asked the RoK to support the Vietnamese community in integrating, living, studying, and working stably in the country, and facilitate the possibility of Vietnamese-origin individuals becoming members of the RoK's National Assembly.

Party General Secretary Lâm further proposed that the RoK continue simplifying visa procedures for Vietnamese citizens and work towards visa exemptions.

Voicing his delight at the breakthrough progress of bilateral relations in all aspects, Speaker Woo proposed that both sides continue close cooperation to foster substantive defence cooperation and to strengthen joint efforts in combating transnational crime, particularly cybercrime, in the region.

He also asked Việt Nam to actively help address certain difficulties faced by RoK enterprises and to create favourable conditions for them to participate in Việt Nam’s priority projects, thereby contributing to the country’s socio-economic development.

The top legislator of the RoK fully agreed with the views expressed by his host, stressing his country always attaches great importance to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Việt Nam in its foreign policy towards the region.

He affirmed that the RoK will support Việt Nam in successfully hosting the 2027 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week. — VNS