이낙연 국무총리(오른쪽)가 21일 정부서울청사에서 쯔엉 화 빙 베트남 수석부총리와 만나 인사를 나누고 있다. 국무총리실

Vietnamese Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh (left) shakes hands with Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, at the Government Complex Seoul on Nov. 21. (Prime Minister’s Office)

By Kim Young Shin 

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon held meetings with Vietnamese Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh at the Government Complex Seoul on Nov. 21. They exchanged opinions about the developing ties between Seoul and Hanoi.

Prime Minister Lee said that this year is the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. “For the ties between our two countries to strengthen even further in the future, exchanges at the grass-root level, as well as building trust between our leaders, is very important,” he said.

He expressed hope for the expansion of trade between Korea and Vietnam, predicting that it would amount to USD 100 billion by 2020, and for strengthened cooperation on transportation infrastructure, two items that were agreed upon at the Korea-Vietnam summit on Nov. 11.

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Bihn said that in order to deepen the relationship between the two countries, cooperation on many fields, including high-level talks, diplomacy, national defense, trade, the arts, education, tourism and labor, must all be strengthened.

Regarding North Korean nuclear weapons issues, he said that the Vietnamese government supports the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a peaceful solution to the North Korean issues. He said that his country stays committed to the U.N. Security Council’s resolutions.

ysk1111@korea.kr