President Lee Jae-myung, fresh from a state visit to India, has arrived in Vietnam, his second stop, as business leaders converge to carry out an economic delegation schedule. The push reflects an effort to expand business in Vietnam — seen alongside India and Brazil as a key “Global South” market — and to hedge against global uncertainty. Large-scale investment announcements are expected again at the Korea-Vietnam Business Forum on the 23rd.
According to the business community on the 22nd, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, HD Hyundai Group Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun and Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon moved on to Vietnam after completing the India delegation program.
The Vietnam leg is being led by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who also heads the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Chey and Doosan Enerbility Chairman Park Ji-won, among other senior executives, boarded a flight to Vietnam that day.
Financial leaders are also joining Lee’s state-visit schedule, led by Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won. They include KB Kookmin Bank CEO Lee Hwan-ju, Shinhan Bank CEO Jeong Sang-hyeok, Hana Bank CEO Lee Ho-seong, Woori Bank CEO Jeong Jin-wan and NH Nonghyup Bank CEO Kang Tae-young.
Vietnam is South Korea’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States. Last year, total Korea-Vietnam trade included $62.8 billion in exports and $31.8 billion in imports. Overall trade expanded from $86.8 billion in 2024 to $94.6 billion.
Korea’s four major conglomerates have built major production bases in Vietnam. Samsung Electronics operates six manufacturing plants and one research and development center nationwide and produces more than 50% of its smartphones there. SK Group has been expanding local energy infrastructure projects, including power plants and liquefied natural gas terminals.
Hyundai Motor has been strengthening production and sales through its local joint venture (HTMV), and ranked No. 1 in local sales in both 2023 and 2024, beating Toyota. LG Electronics is developing Vietnam as a key production hub for its automotive components business, while affiliates LG Innotek and LG Display also run major production sites in the country.
For Vietnam, South Korea is a key economic partner. Vietnam’s business outlet VN Economy reported that South Korea is Vietnam’s largest foreign investor, with cumulative registered investment estimated at 126 trillion won to 133 trillion won.
Vietnam’s ambassador to South Korea, Vu Ho, said the core agenda of Lee’s trip and the business delegation is shifting bilateral cooperation from capital- and labor-dependent industries to advanced sectors such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence. He said that could help meet the two countries’ goal of $150 billion in trade by 2030.
Attention is now focused on the Korea-Vietnam Business Forum on the 23rd. The event is expected to feature announcements on strategic cooperation and private-sector memorandums of understanding covering not only advanced technologies such as semiconductors, but also nuclear power, high-speed rail and large-scale new-city infrastructure.
A business official said Vietnam is a key country with the capacity to fill gaps left by China in both production and market terms, adding that, as in India, Korean companies are likely to announce investments worth several trillion won.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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