The Republic of Korean President Park Geun Hye and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Hanoi

(VOVworld) – The Republic of Korean President Park Geun Hye is paying a 5 day state visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang. To mark the occasion, Vietnam and the Republic of Korea issued a joint statement. The statement says both sides agreed to hold high-level talks via bilateral visits or contacts during multilateral meetings; boost the exchange of senior personnel of the two countries’ Parties, Governments, and National Assemblies. Both sides agreed to continue to strengthen cooperation in such areas as the training of defense staff, defense industry and sharing experiences in peace keeping operations, contributing to maintaining peace and stability in region and the world.

Vietnam and the Republic of Korea agreed to increase two-way trade to 70 billion USD by 2020 by expanding bilateral trade relations on the basis of mutual benefits. They reached consensus on the need to accelerate negotiations in order to sign the Vietnam-Korea Free Trade Area at a high and comprehensive level by 2014.

Both sides agreed to proactively boost the “Vietnam happiness program”, a project to comprehensively develop the more deprived areas in line with the Korean “New village movement, so as to contribute to Vietnam’s development towards an industrialized nation by 2020.

Vietnam and the Republic of Korea agreed to boost cooperation in various areas including language training, culture, arts, sports and expand cooperation in public relations. They agreed to pay more attention to protecting and ensuring the legitimate interests of their peoples in their resident countries, especially provide the necessary support for Vietnamese- Korean families who help forge bilateral ties.

In regard to cooperation in regional and global forums, the Republic of Korea expressed concern about the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear tests and opposed the North’s possession of nuclear weapons in any circumstances. Both agreed that the development of nuclear weapons threatened peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, East Asia and the world. They called on Pyongyang  to fully implement their international obligations and commitments including related resolutions of the UN Security Council, the Joint Statement released at the six party talks on September 19, 2005 and to be a responsible member of the international community. The two agreed to strengthen their cooperation in international forums including ASEAN+3, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the United Nations (UN). They stressed the need to strengthen Mekong- Republic of Korean cooperation in establishing an ASEAN community. They cited the importance of maintaining peace, stability and maritime freedom, saying that all sea-related disputes should be resolved through peaceful means in accordance with international law including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.