Korea, Vietnam agree to nurture ties in nuclear power, high-speed rail

Leaders of South Korea and Vietnam on Monday agreed to broaden the bilateral cooperation into forward-looking sectors in a summit held during the Southeast Asian country’s leader’s state visit to Seoul.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Chief Secretary of Vietnam’s Communist Party To Lam agreed to “foster a favorable environment” for South Korean companies to participate in Vietnam’s projects to build urban infrastructure, high-speed railways and nuclear power plants, according to the presidential office.

Lee told reporters after the summit at the presidential office in Seoul that large-scale projects in Vietnam, such as the construction of new nuclear power plants and its North-South high-speed railway, would be crucial for ensuring a stable power supply and establishing a modernized transport system.

“I expressed my hope for a successful example of cooperation, based on our companies’ technological prowess and extensive experience,” Lee said, adding that Lam told him that he would “actively consider Korea’s participation.”

The leaders also agreed to increase the bilateral trade volume to $150 billion by 2030, up about 75 percent from $86.7 billion in 2024. This year marks the 10th anniversary of a bilateral free trade agreement that has been in effect since 2015.

According to the Korea International Trade Association, Vietnam has been the third-largest trading partner with South Korea after the United States and China for three straight years, from 2022 to 2024, counting exports and imports combined. Both exports and imports surged over 9 percent in 2024 from the previous year.

“Aiming to be a responsible global power to address the changing global order … South Korea reached a consensus with Vietnam that the need for bilateral cooperation is more important than ever as Vietnam pursues a goal of becoming a high-income country by 2045,” Lee said. “We agreed to foster bilateral cooperation in a way that is more forward-looking and future-oriented.”

This echoed Lee’s remarks in an interview with Vietnam News Agency on Friday that raising the trade target is meant to “contribute to the sustainable growth” of both countries, adding that South Korea was poised to become Vietnam’s “trusted partner on (the) journey” to achieving Vietnam’s goal of becoming an upper middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2045.