South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will start a visit to Vietnam today [September 17] to boost cooperation in coronavirus response and ways to promote bilateral issues.

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha. Photo: Yonhap

Kang will is expected to propose the creation of an expedited entry system for essential travelers, such as businesspeople, to facilitate their overseas work amid the pandemic, at talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh on Friday, according to the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She will also pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Since the Covid-19 outbreak, about 9,000 South Koreans, mostly businesspeople, have been allowed to enter Vietnam in exception to entry curbs since the virus outbreak took place, according to the ministry.

Seoul has been trying to persuade other countries to establish entry exceptions for South Korean businesspeople.

China, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, and Singapore have so far created “fast-track” entry programs for them.

Kang is the first foreign minister to visit Vietnam since the pandemic started earlier this year.

Vietnam and South Korea enjoy the advancement in the strategic cooperative partnership and look forward to upgrading the relation status.

South Korea topped 132 countries and territories pouring money into Vietnam with US$66.6 billion as of end-2019.

The capital flows are mainly from big corporations like Samsung, LG, Lotte, CJ, KB Financial Group (KBFG), Shinhan Financial Group, among others.

Consul General of Korea in Ho Chi Minh City Lim Jae Hoon said Vietnam is a strategic country in South Korea’s New Southern Policy (NSP) and the economic relations have been at the peak.

Dr. Duong Quang Thong from University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City attributed the rising inflows of South Korean investment to their acknowledgment and understanding of Vietnam’s business mechanism and environment, better than those from other countries.