South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his spouse arrived in Hanoi this afternoon and began the official visit to Vietnam during March 22-24.
The South Korean leader will receive a state-welcoming ceremony hosted by his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang. Moon is set to hold a bilateral summit with President Tran Dai Quang on Friday and meet other leaders. He would also participate in forum for business leaders of the two countries alongside Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Yoon Boo-keun and Chung Yong-jin, vice chairman of retail group Shinsegae.

South Korean President and his spouse land in Noi Bai Airport. Photo: VNA

This is Moon's first official visit to Vietnam since his inauguration in May 2017 following his attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam’s city of Danang last November. The trip also marks Moon's first state visit in the year and only second to an ASEAN nation after his state visit to Indonesia late last year.
The bilateral economic ties are expected to be enhanced during the trip. "South Korea will continue to seek ways to boost its cooperation with Vietnam so that it can contribute to realizing Vietnam's goal of building an industrialized modern nation by 2020”, said Moon in an interview with Nhan Dan ahead the visit.
Vietnam is expected to outstrip the United States as South Korea’s second-largest export destination in 2020 thanks to a bilateral free trade deal, a report by Korea International Trade Association (KITA) said Tuesday.
Vietnam was the third-largest trading partner of South Korea last year, under their free trade agreement effective since December 2015. South Korea's exports to Vietnam increased 46.3% to $47.7 billion from a year earlier, according to General Statistics Office of Vietnam.