He welcomed Mr Dung’s first ever visit to the RoK which he said will help promote bilateral ties in the future. President Lee lauded the result of the May 29 talks between the two PMs, during which they had agreed to lift the Vietnam-RoK relationship to a strategic cooperative partnership for the sake of peace, stability and development in the region and the rest of the world.

For his part, Mr Dung confirmed that Vietnam considers the RoK as one of its top trading partners.

He said that both countries should make a greater effort to promote their cooperation in politics, economics, diplomacy, security, national defence, culture, education and environmental protection towards a strategic cooperative partnership in the future.

He proposed that President Lee consider providing more official development assistance to Vietnam and create favourable conditions for the Southeast Asian nation to increase its exports to the RoK to balance two-way trade.

Both host and guest expressed their pleasure at the rapid development of the friendship and cooperative ties between Vietnam and the RoK. They agreed that the two countries should boost bilateral cooperation in all fields to lift their comprehensive relationship in the 21^st century to new heights.

Mr Dung reiterated Vietnam’s consistent policy of supporting a nuclear free zone on the Korean peninsula and protesting against nuclear tests and the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the region. He said Vietnam supports the settlement of the Korean nuclear issues through dialogue and peaceful negotiations.

He conveyed Vietnamese State President Nguyen Minh Triet’s invitation to visit Vietnam to Mr Lee and the invitation was accepted with pleasure.

In a meeting with RoK National Assembly speaker Kim Hyong-O the same day, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung congratulated the RoK people on the outstanding achievements they have made in recent times. He expressed his hope that the speaker himself and other RoK legislators would make a further contribution to strengthening the friendly and cooperative ties between the two countries.

Speaker Kim affirmed that the RoK wants to foster ties with Vietnam and its National Assembly.

They agreed that regular exchange of visits between the two legislative bodies and citizenries, especially young generations, will help promote mutual trust and understanding between Vietnam and the RoK.

They spoke highly of the role played by the Vietnamese community in the RoK and the RoK community in Vietnam and said both governments pay due attention to protecting the legitimate rights of their citizens in their respective countries.

Mr Dung conveyed Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong’s invitation to Mr Kim to visit Vietnam at an appropriate time. mr Kim accepted the invitation with pleasure.

Mr Dung is in Seoul for a RoK-ASEAN Commemorative summit.