President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to visit Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates.

The President will make a state visit to Vietnam March 22-24 at the invitation of President Tran Dai Quang. During his three-day state visit there, President Moon will hold a summit with President Quang and meet with other key national leaders, including the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Prime Minister and the Chairperson of the National Assembly. Discussions with them are expected to focus on the forward-looking advancement of the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

It has been only 25 years since Korea and Vietnam established diplomatic ties, but Vietnam has now emerged as Korea’s No.1 partner among 10 ASEAN member states in terms of trade, investment, people-to-people exchanges and development cooperation. The country is also a key partner nation of the Korean Government’s New Southern Policy that was unveiled by President Moon during his tour of ASEAN member countries. The visit is expected to serve as a crucial steppingstone to put the New Southern Policy on track and to diversify Korea’s diplomacy. 

Following his visit to Vietnam, President Moon will make an official visit to the UAE for four days from March 24 at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi. 

President Moon and the Crown Prince will hold a summit meeting, during which the two leaders are expected to take stock of the current state of progress in ties between the two countries following the establishment of the strategic partnership in 2009. They will also exchange ideas on how to work together in areas of future growth. 

Afterwards, President Moon is scheduled to visit Dubai and meet with UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the ruler of Dubai. This will provide an opportunity to focus on seeking ways to expand substantive cooperation between Korea and the UAE. 

The UAE has been closely cooperating with Korea in many areas, including the economy, and is a key partner to which the Akh military unit of Korea has been dispatched. 

Through his first visit to a Middle Eastern country since his inauguration, President Moon and his UAE counterpart are expected to solidify trust and friendship. Based on that, they will cement the foundation to promote a forward-looking substantive cooperation between the two countries.  

Moreover, the visit is expected to contribute to expanding and diversifying the scope of Korea’s diplomacy.