Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Vũ Hồ poses a group photo with South Korean experts and artists at the embassy in Seoul. — VNA/VNS Photo

SEOUL — The Vietnamese Embassy in the Republic of Korea (RoK) held a ceremony on Sunday to celebrate the 136th birth anniversary of President Hồ Chí Minh and offered incense in tribute to the late leader at his memorial room and statue within the embassy's campus.

Speaking at the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Vũ Hồ lauded President Hồ Chí Minh as a brilliant leader, national liberation hero, and great man of culture of Vietnam.

President Hồ Chí Minh devoted his whole life to the struggle for national independence, peace, and social progress, becoming a symbol of patriotism, aspiration for independence, profound humanism, and will to rise of the Vietnamese people, he said.

The diplomat also highlighted an ongoing project to honour the late leader abroad, coupled with external communications on Việt Nam’s development goals and vision through 2030 and 2045. It aims to further spread the image of a peaceful, dynamic, and developing Việt Nam to the world.

With Việt Nam–Korea ties expanding across multiple fields, he noted that honouring President Hồ Chí Minh in the RoK carries significance beyond the overseas Vietnamese. It offers a chance to raise mutual understanding, empathy, and bonds between the Vietnamese and Korean people built on shared values of peace, cooperation, and development.

Studying and following President Hồ Chí Minh’s thought, morality, and lifestyle remain an important mission for officials, Party members, and overseas Vietnamese, including those living in the RoK, he affirmed.

Delegates watched a documentary on Hồ Chí Minh’s life and revolutionary career, subtitled in Korean. The film retraced his arduous yet glorious revolutionary journey, giving Korean friends and young Vietnamese in the RoK a deeper understanding of his thought, morality, and exemplary life.

An exhibition of his paintings, photos, and archival materials drew strong interest, introducing visitors to simple yet inspiring stories of his moral character, lifestyle, and humanitarian ideals. Many Korean attendees expressed admiration for the image of a modest, approachable leader whose influence has outlasted his era.

Kwon Sung Taek, chairman of the Korea-Việt Nam Cultural and Economic Association (KOVECA), stressed that the embassy’s activities have enabled more Koreans to better understand President Hồ Chí Minh, as well as Vietnam’s history, culture, and people, contributing to people-to-people exchanges and bilateral friendship.

Prof. Park Yeon Kwan, head of the Vietnamese Department at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, called on younger generations of both countries to continue deepening Việt Nam – RoK friendship, in line with President Hồ Chí Minh’s aspiration for a peaceful and cooperative world.

On the occasion, the embassy also honoured individuals with outstanding achievements in studying and following President Hồ Chí Minh’s thought, morality, and lifestyle, and opened an art exhibition dedicated to the late leader, further spreading his humanitarian values and ideals among the Vietnamese community and international friends in the RoK. — VNA/VNS