[Yonhap News Photo]
Viet Nam is South Korea's third-largest trading partner after China and the United States. Data released by South Korea's trade ministry showed that the Southeast Asian nation had an estimated $34.5 billion trade deficit with South Korea in 2022. According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, South Korean companies invested in 370 projects worth $4 billion in the first 11 months of 2022.
An aircraft carrying Yoon and his wife Kim Keon-hee arrived at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi at 10:27 a.m. (local time) on June 22. Prior to the summit meeting with the Vietnamese leader on June 23, Yoon will attend a meeting with South Korean compatriots and visit a Korean language institute to interact with Korean language learners. The president will also participate in a cultural exchange event and a business forum to hold talks with Vietnamese entrepreneurs.
Viet Nam is the first nation visited by Yoon among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In 2022, the two countries reached a consensus to improve bilateral relations into a comprehensive strategic partnership. The state visit will be accompanied by 205 South Korean business experts including Hyundai auto group's Jung Eui-sun, LG Group's Koo Kwang-mo, and Kim Dong-kwan, the vice chairman of Hanwha Group. According to South Korea's presidential office, the two nations aim to achieve a trade amount of $150 billion by 2030.
Ahead of the state visit to Viet Nam, Yoon agreed with French President Emmanuel Macron during a summit meeting to cooperate in high-tech technologies, reconstruction of Ukraine, and North Korea's denuclearization during his visit to Paris. The South Korean president also asked for the global community to support South Korea to host the World Expo 2030 in the southern port city of Busan through an English language-based speech during the general assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE).