The RoK's largest trade surplus in 2022 with Viet Nam indicated the increasing importance of the country as a major manufacturing base.
Viet Nam has positioned itself as the manufacturing hub for multinational corporations in the ASEAN bloc, a ministry official said, adding that this is the result of major Korean companies making their way to Viet Nam, making the country as a close business partner.
Trade between the RoK and Viet Nam was US$500 million in 1992 when the two countries set up their formal diplomatic relations. It reached US$87.7 billion in 2022, a 175-fold increase.
The two countries agreed to raise bilateral trade to US$100 billion in 2023 and to US$150 billion by 2030.