[Aju News DB]
SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in promised to work for the joint development of his country and Vietnam, noting that their relationship can last only when it is mutually beneficial.
"Two key words that comes to my mind when it comes to South Korea-Vietnam economic cooperation is joint existence and cooperation for future growth," Moon said in an interview with Vietnam's official newspaper, The People, published Wednesday.
"First off, I am convinced economic cooperation between countries can be sustained when both sides jointly enjoy the benefits, and I plan to develop economic cooperation between South Korea and Vietnam to the mutual end of contributing to the coexistence and prosperity of the two countries," he added, according to a script of his written interview released by his office Cheong Wa Dae.
Moon's interview was published one day before he is set to embark on a three-day state visit to the Southeast Asian country for a bilateral summit with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang on Friday. The South Korean president is also scheduled to meet three other top leaders of Vietnam, including Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party, and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
Moon noted that Vietnam is already his country's fourth-largest trading partner and South Korea Vietnam's second-largest. The South Korean leader expressed hope that the countries' bilateral trade volume will reach $100 billion in 2020, up from $63.9 billion in 2017.
"South Korea will continue to seek ways to boost its cooperation with Vietnam so that it can contribute to realizing Vietnam's goal of building an industrialized modern nation by 2020," he said.
Moon also stressed the importance of increasing exchanges between the two countries, saying 150,000 South Koreans in Vietnam and 170,000 Vietnamese people in South Korea are already helping bridge the gap between the two.
(Yonhap)
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
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