The leaders of South Korea and Vietnam agreed Saturday to work to further enhance their bilateral ties partly by increasing exchanges between their government officials and people.
In a bilateral summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang also vowed efforts to boost the countries' bilateral trade to over $100 billion in 2020, according to South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
The Moon-Tran meeting, the first of its kind, was held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang (Yonhap)
The South Korean leader arrived here Friday for the annual regional forum.
"President Moon and President Tran held a 40-minute summit meeting today and agreed to further develop the countries'
strategic partnership," Moon's top press secretary Yoon Young-chan told a press briefing.
The Cheong Wa Dae official explained increased exchange of top government officials will also include the leaders themselves.
Moon called for increased economic cooperation, noting Vietnam was following the footsteps of his country in the experience of rapid industrialization following a colonial rule.
"I hope sharing our experience in the so-called Miracle of the Han River will help ensure the success of the Miracle of the Mekong River," Moon was quoted as saying.
Tran said his country placed great importance on its strategic partnership with South Korea and that the had the highest priority in Vietnam's foreign policies, according to the Cheong Wa Dae official.
The two leaders also reaffirmed their joint effort to denuclearize North Korea.
The South Korean president expressed gratitude for what he called Vietnam's continuous support.
"I ask Vietnam, along with the other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, to actively support our efforts because a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue is more important than anything else," Moon said, according to Yoon.
The Vietnamese leader said his country will continue to fully implement UN Security Council sanctions against the North. (Yonhap)
