President Lee to receive Vietnam's top leader Monday

President Lee Jae Myung will hold talks next week with Vietnam's top leader, To Lam, marking the first visit by the general secretary of Vietnam's Communist Party to South Korea in over a decade.

According to presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung on Thursday, Lam will make a state visit to South Korea from Sunday through Wednesday, with the meeting between the two leaders taking place Monday. Lee will also host a state dinner Monday evening, also attended by business leaders.

The talks will cover not only politics, national security, trade and investment, Kang said, but also ways to develop Vietnam's public infrastructure in the fields of nuclear energy, high-speed rail and smart city solutions, as well as forward-looking strategies for science and technology.

The meeting will "reaffirm the two countries' willingness to foster the bilateral partnership in a way that is future-oriented and mutually beneficial," Kang told reporters.

Kang also said Lam's state visit will also include stops at sites related to South Korean culture and arts due to Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly’s personal interest, but she did not elaborate further on their itineraries.

In the last visit by the general secretary of Vietnam's Communist Party to Asia's fourth-largest economy, Lam's predecessor Nguyen Phu Trong came to South Korea on a state visit in 2014 upon the invitation of then-President Park Geun-hye.

Lam will also be the first foreign leader to visit South Korea since Lee's inauguration on June 4.

Thursday's announcement follows Lee's phone talks with Vietnamese President Luong Cuong, the second-ranking leader of Vietnam, about a week after Lee’s inauguration. There, the two expressed a commitment to bilateral cooperation in Vietnam's infrastructure projects.

Vietnam is looking to build a north-south high-speed railway stretching more than 1,500 kilometers to connect Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, reportedly drawing South Korean builders' attention. Construction for the 1,713 trillion dong ($65.3 billion) project gained Vietnam's green light in November last year. It currently takes at least 30 hours to travel between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City by train, but according to the blueprint, the high-speed rail line could cut this to 5 1/2 hours.

Vietnam's efforts to restart stalled Ninh Thuan nuclear power projects have also drawn attention. South Korean state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp. has openly expressed its intention to take part in a new nuclear power plant project in Vietnam. Currently, no nuclear power plant operates in Vietnam.

Another focal point is whether South Korea's liberal leader will invoke subjects related to wartime atrocities during South Korean military's deployment in the Vietnam War from 1964-1973, such as an apology to the victims of South Korean soldiers who were killed during the Vietnam War, or to Lai Dai Han, as children fathered by South Koreans during the war are known.

According to the minutes of a June 19 Cabinet meeting, Lee proposed a work visa scheme for Lai Dai Han. Vietnam War victims including Nguyen Thi Thanh also visited the presidential office to meet with officials of Lee's office on June 23.

Regarding the matter, Lee's spokesperson said both leaders are headed toward a "forward-looking relationship."

When asked about the possibility of the two leaders discussing US tariffs, Kang said the issue might come up "naturally."

In recent weeks, special envoys to Vietnam for the president led by former three-term lawmaker Park Chang-dal were received by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on July 29. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun also held phone talks Wednesday with Bui Thanh Son, Cho's counterpart who is also Vietnam's deputy prime minister.

In 2022, South Korea and Vietnam bolstered their bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, which is the highest in Vietnam's diplomatic hierarchy. The two countries established formal diplomatic relations in 1992.