President Lee Myung-Bak of South Korea (L) and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Minh Triet

Vietnam and South Korea agreed Wednesday to tighten political and security ties, further boosting a relationship that has quickly expanded since normalization 17 years ago.

“It means that, before, the two countries only focused on economics and trade but now relations will be expanded to politics, diplomacy, security and other sectors,” Lee said in a joint media briefing with Triet.

Seoul and Hanoi normalized relations in 1992, many years after the end of the Vietnam War, in which South Korea sent 300,000 troops to fight alongside the US. The war ended in 1975 with Vietnam’s reunification.

Triet told reporters that the new partnership was the wish of both sides and an expression of “mutual understanding and trust.”

He said the countries will increase their bilateral cooperation in international, regional and bilateral forums.

The two leaders took no questions.

Vietnam says South Korea is now its third-largest foreign investor, and last year was the second-largest bilateral aid donor and fourth-largest trading partner, with two-way commerce surging to nearly US$10 billion.

There are also cultural and family ties. South Korean television shows are popular in Vietnam while thousands of Vietnamese women have moved to South Korea as brides.

Triet said the two sides expected a doubling of bilateral trade to $20 billion by 2015.

Lee agreed to recognize Vietnam’s market economy status, according to comments from his office cited by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. The move could significantly improve protection for Vietnamese businesses and their products in trade with South Korea, Yonhap said.

The South Korean leader landed in Hanoi on Tuesday and was expected to leave on Thursday.

Source: AFP