Vietnam, South Korea agree to cement ties

HANOI, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang and his visiting South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in agreed here on Friday to broaden and deepen the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

Vietnam and South Korea will conduct annual exchanges of high-ranking delegations, and bolster cooperation between government agencies, political parties and localities of the two countries in various spheres, especially diplomacy, security and defense, Quang said at a press briefing after the talks between the two presidents.

During the talks, the two presidents agreed to soon approve the Declaration on Joint Vision on Defense Cooperation between the two defense ministries, and cement mutual beneficial collaboration in the defense industry.

They also agreed to boost economic partnership, striving to increase two-way trade to 100 billion U.S. dollars by 2020, and encourage investment in such fields as supporting industry, high technology, electronics, energy, and infrastructure.

Regarding development cooperation, South Korea will center on investing in Vietnam's central region such as clearing war-era landmines and building hospitals and schools.

Vietnam is the most important country in South Korea's New Southern Policy, said Moon.

Also on Friday, Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee's General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Vietnamese National Assembly's Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan received the South Korea president, respectively. Enditem