Addressing the opening ceremony of the Forum, Mr. Kim Jung-in, President of the Western Southeast Asia Council - the RoK’s National Unification Advisory Council affirmed that the unified peace of the Korean Peninsula and the strengthening of cooperation between RoK - Vietnam - Mekong Sub-region has been becoming a topic attracted the attention of research scholars, as well as practical activists in Vietnam and Korea.
Share the wishes for a stable peace on the Korean peninsula, Vice President Dang Xuan Thanh stated: Over 70 years, a peaceful, prosperous, and unified Korean Peninsula is not only a burning desire of the people of South-North Korea but also a sincere wish of the Vietnamese people as well as all peace lovers in the world. Following the achievements of the 2018 RoK-Mekong Peace Forum and RoK-Vietnam Peace Forums were held in Hanoi in previous years, this forum would focus on discussing two main contents. First, analyze and evaluate the prospects and tasks of building peace on the Korean Peninsula; Second, discuss the strengthening the RoK - Mekong cooperation; especially the impact of the RoK Government's “New Southern Policy” on the development of joint cooperation for peace and prosperity between the RoK - Vietnam, the RoK - Mekong Sub-region countries in the near future.
The Vice President expressed hope that the Forum would provide many suggestions to enhance the strategic cooperation between the RoK - Vietnam as well as the collaboration between the RoK - Mekong sub-region; actively contributing to creating peace, prosperity, and sustainability on the Korean Peninsula and East Asia region…
With two sessions: Session 1: Prospects and missions to establish Peace on the Korean Peninsula; Session 2: Peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and the RoK-Mekong cooperation. Delegates profound discussed on the issues related to the prospects and tasks of establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula. Many opinions were interested in strengthening the RoK - Mekong cooperation; especially the impact of the RoK Government's “New Southern Policy” on the development of joint cooperation for peace and prosperity between the RoK - Vietnam, the RoK - Mekong Sub-region countries; in particular emphasizing the importance of the ASEAN region and the 3P principle (People, Prosperity, Peace); the prospects of economic cooperation between the RoK and ASEAN countries.
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Sharing views on innovation, integration, economic development and reference experiences for North Korea, Dr. Nguyen Thi Tham, the Institute for Northeast Asian Studies said that the achievements of Doi Moi (Innovation), development and international integration of Vietnam were sources of encouragement for North Korea to study and draw experiences; The step-by-step innovations changed from thinking, state management methods in agriculture, enterprises… of Vietnam that would be very useful for North Korea in the early period of socialist economic development…
Assess the role of Vietnam in implementing the RoK’s New Southern Policy in the Mekong Sub-region countries, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Duy Dung shared: With the extensive participation in the fields of Vietnam, there have always been many contributions to the process of building a mechanism for organizing activities, exchanging with other countries to look for effective coordination in solving common issues as well as specific areas related to trade investment, human resource development. Through the Forum, signing cooperation agreements, specific programs and projects; Vietnam and the member countries have established trust, harmonious coordination of mutual interests among the parties; therefore, there are many practical contributions to regional connectivity to support joint development for people and general prosperity. Currently, Vietnam's trade volume for Cambodia reached 4.7 billion USD, increasing by 23% compared to 2017; reaching 1.031 billion USD for Laos, increased by 14.5%; reaching 723.2 million USD for Myanmar, increased by 7.2%; reaching 11.2 billion USD for Thailand (data as of August 2018)… These figures showed that Vietnam had been a reliable partner of businesses in the region, supporting and playing a significant role in implementing the RoK’s Southern Policy in the present time.
Glad about the Forum result, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Hong Thai, Director of the Institute for Northeast Asian Studies, commented that the 2019 Korea - Mekong Peace Forum with the theme “Unified Peace on the Korean Peninsula and the Republic of Korea-Mekong cooperation” had become an important scientific event, the exchange ideas have contributed to boosting the Korea-Mekong cooperation, especially the strategic partnership; Promoting the peace and prosperity of each country, the Korean Peninsula and the whole East Asia region in the future.
Pham Vinh Ha
