Vietnam PM to make official South Korea visit

Vietnam and South Korea established diplomatic relations on Dec. 12, 1992. They upgraded ties to strategic cooperation partnership in October 2009, then a comprehensive strategic partnership in December 2022.

South Korea is ranked first in direct investment to Vietnam, second in ODA and tourism partnership, and third in labor and commerce.

The two countries’ bilateral trade turnover reached $76.1 billion in 2023, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Within the first four months of this year, the total export and import turnovers between the two reached $25.5 billion, a 4% increase from the same period last year.

South Korea was the biggest direct investor to Vietnam by April with 9,957 projects, with a total registered capital at over $87 billion.

Vietnam is a foremost priority partner for South Korea when it comes to ODA development. South Korea has given Vietnam over $500 million worth of aid every year recently.

Over 250,000 Vietnamese are currently living in South Korea, with around 150,000 Koreans living in Vietnam.

Around 3.6 million Korean visitors came to Vietnam last year, while 500,000 Vietnamese tourists also came to South Korea. Within the first four months of this year, South Korea is the largest market of tourists coming to Vietnam at 1.6 million visitors, accounting for 25.8% of international visitors coming to Vietnam.