(Unofficial Translation)

I am all the more glad to see Prime Minister Phuc again in Seoul following the Mekong-Republic of Korea Summit. Among the ASEAN heads of state and government, he was the first leader with whom I held a summit. I feel even closer to him because we have participated together in eight international conferences over the past year. I join all Koreans in welcoming the Prime Minister, who has extraordinary affection for Korea, on his first official visit here. 

Viet Nam has been posting astounding economic growth of over 7 percent annually. This year, the World Economic Forum raised the country’s national competitiveness ranking by an impressive ten notches from the previous year in its Global Competitiveness Index. I express my respect for the leadership of the Prime Minister; he has been achieving the most remarkable accomplishments throughout this year just as he laid out in his New Year address.

Since diplomatic relations were established in 1992, Viet Nam and Korea have achieved mutual advancement. The trade volume, which stood at a meager US$500 million, and investments that amounted to less than US$20 million at that time have drastically risen to US$68.3 billion and US$3.2 billion, respectively. Yearly people-to-people exchanges have increased nearly 500-fold to 4 million. The collaboration between head coach Park Hang-seo and the Vietnamese national football team has drawn loud cheers from many fans around the world. With the number of Vietnamese-Korean marriages exceeding 60,000, our two countries have now become like a family.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of our strategic cooperative partnership. I look forward to even greater synergy being created between Viet Nam’s goal of emerging as an industrialized country and Korea’s New Southern Policy.

I am very grateful to Viet Nam for having helped the second North Korea-United States summit take place. I also congratulate Viet Nam on its assuming the roles of ASEAN Chair and Co-Chair of the ASEAN-ROK and Mekong-ROK summits as well as its becoming a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council next year. Korea and Viet Nam will have more chances to cooperate on the international stage. 

I was told that the Prime Minister’s name means “good fortune that comes in spring.” The name sounds very friendly to Koreans as well. I am confident that the cooperation between our countries will return as mutually beneficial good fortune. 

Thank you.