The visit, running from April 21 to April 24, comes at the invitation of Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and his spouse.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and his spouse arrive at Noi Bai International Airport on April 21 (Photo: Thanh Dong).
Vietnam and South Korea established diplomatic relations on December 22, 1992, and have since maintained strong ties across party, government and national assembly channels. High level exchanges continue in flexible formats, reinforcing political trust.
Defence and security cooperation has also intensified, with regular exchanges and mechanisms including vice ministerial dialogues on defence policy, security and strategic diplomacy.
South Korea remains Vietnam’s leading investment partner, second largest source of tourists and official development assistance, and its third largest trade partner and labour market.
Bilateral trade reached USD 89.5 billion in 2025, up 9.6 per cent from 2024. Vietnam exported USD 28.9 billion worth of goods, a rise of 12.7 per cent, while imports totalled USD 60.5 billion, up 8.1 per cent, resulting in a trade deficit of USD 31.6 billion, up 4.3 per cent.
In the first three months of the year, total trade turnover reached USD 26.9 billion, a 30 per cent increase year on year. Vietnam’s exports stood at USD 8.1 billion, up 20.4 per cent, while imports rose 34.7 per cent to USD 18.7 billion, leaving a deficit of USD 10.6 billion.
As of the end of March, South Korea remained Vietnam’s largest foreign investor among 154 countries and territories, with total registered capital of USD 98.9 billion across 10,447 projects, accounting for more than 23 per cent of projects and 18 per cent of total registered foreign direct investment.
Vietnam continues to encourage South Korean businesses to expand investment, particularly in infrastructure, high tech electronics, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, smart cities and integrated industrial production chains.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and his spouse arrive in Hanoi (Photo: Thanh Dong).
In development cooperation, Vietnam is a key recipient of South Korean official development assistance, receiving about 20 per cent of its total aid. Over the past five years, South Korea has provided more than USD 500 million, with 90 per cent in concessional loans and 10 per cent in grants.
ODA loans are channelled through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund under the Export Import Bank of Korea. In June 2023, the two sides signed a USD 2 billion agreement under the Economic Development Promotion Fund to support transport and urban infrastructure projects.
Tourism ties remain strong, with South Korea the second largest source of visitors to Vietnam in 2025, accounting for 4.3 million arrivals, or 21 per cent of total international visitors.
People to people exchanges continue to expand. By the end of 2025, around 352,000 Vietnamese were living in South Korea, including more than 100,000 students and 100,000 workers, along with about 100,000 multicultural families. Meanwhile, approximately 200,000 South Koreans reside and do business in Vietnam, including around 10,000 enterprises.
