The agreement was reached during talks in Seoul on May 29 between RoK Prime Minister Han Seung-soo and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung, who is in Seoul for the RoK-ASEAN Commemorative Summit.

The two PMs shared the view that bilateral cooperative relations in politics, economics, culture and social affairs have developed well since Vietnam and the RoK established diplomatic ties in 1992.

They stressed the need to maintain the exchange of high-level reciprocal visits and increase cooperation and dialogue in the fields of diplomacy, security and national defence.

They agreed to increase cooperation in trade, investment, ODA, labour and tourism, by encouraging RoK businesses to expand their investment in such areas as industry, energy, infrastructure, transport, construction and urban planning. They said that the two countries should boost cooperation in the transfer of technology, environmental protection, mitigation of climate change and epidemic prevention as well as in culture and education.

The two PMs agreed to pay more attention to protecting the legitimate interests of Vietnamese people residing in the RoK and RoK citizens living and working in Vietnam, while working closely to solve any problems relating to citizenship.

The RoK is willing to share its development experience with Vietnam and continues to increase ODA to the Southeast Asian nation, said PM Han.

The two PMs agreed to cooperate closely in regional and international forums such as ASEAN + 3 (China, Japan and the RoK), APEC and the United Nations for the sake of peace, stability and development in Asia and the rest of the world.

Mr Dung invited Mr Han to visit Vietnam at an appropriate time and the invitation was accepted with pleasure.

Mr Dung praised the RoK’s preparations for the RoK-ASEAN Commemorative Summit on Jeju Island and expressed his belief that the success of the summit will contribute to fostering the relationship between the RoK and ASEAN.

After talks, the two PMs witnessed the signing of an agreement on the extradition of prisoners, a revised framework agreement on non-refundable aid and a cooperative deal on food safety. Other signed agreements included one between the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the RoK Labour Ministry and one on the development of an online Vietnamese government database between the Vietnamese Government Office and the RoK Ministry for Administration and Public Security.