Hanoi (VNA)✱ - Party General Secretary and State President To Lam on September 3 held telephone talks with President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Yoon Suk Yeol, during which the two leaders discussed measures to further promote the Vietnam-RoK comprehensive partnership and shared ideas on issues of common concern.

Yoon expressed his condolences over the passing of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and his belief that the Party and State of Vietnam, led by General Secretary and President To Lam, will continue to reap greater successes, enhancing the position and reputation of Vietnam in the world arena. He affirmed that his country attaches importance to Vietnam in the implementation of policies on the region. Lam congratulated the RoK on the achievements that the country has gained so far, including the recovery of the economy and the consolidation of the supply chain. He noted that the Vietnam-RoK relations have grown rapidly over the pass 32 years across all fields, especially after the two countries upgraded their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. The Vietnamese top leader underlined that the Party and State of Vietnam always treasure friendly cooperative relations with the RoK. The two leaders agreed to further strengthen mutual understanding and political trust through maintaining high-level exchanges and meetings via Party, Government, parliament, and people-to-people channels, increasing cooperation in security and defence, and promoting economic, trade and investment cooperation in a substantive, effective, balanced, and sustainable manner. They concurred to work together to raise two-way trade to 150 billion USD in 2030. Lam welcomed RoK firms to join key investment projects in Vietnam, while Yoon pledged that the RoK will increase the import of Vietnamese agricultural products. The two sides agreed to bolster cooperation in labour, culture, tourism, education, and people-to-people exchange, and to support each other's citizens in living, studying, and working in each other's country. They also vowed to strengthen cooperation on regional and international issues. Lam affirmed that Vietnam is always interested in and ready to actively contribute to the peace process on the Korean Peninsula. Regarding the East Sea issue, the two sides agreed on the necessity of maintaining peace, stability, cooperation, development, and respect for international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Yoon invited General Secretary and President To Lam to visit the RoK soon, and Lam accepted the invitation with pleasure./.