Lee asks S. Koreans in Vietnam to bridge gap between countries

By Byun Duk-kun
HANOI, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Wednesday
asked South Korean residents and business representatives in Vietnam to help
narrow any differences between the two nations.

"There is a lot we can learn from people in Vietnam. Vietnamese people are very
open-minded and very practical," Lee said in a meeting with South Koreans who
reside there. Nearly 85,000 Koreans live in the Vietnamese capital alone,
according to officials accompanying the South Korean president.
Lee is in the middle of a three-day visit that will end early Thursday as part of
a three-nation tour also taking him to Cambodia and Thailand. The trip largely
aims to improve Seoul's ties with the Southeast Asian nations under its new
diplomatic policy called the New Asia Initiative.
Lee and Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet agreed to upgrade their countries'
relationship, forged in 1992, to a "strategic cooperative partnership" in a
bilateral summit held here earlier Wednesday.
The South Korean president said the agreement will fail unless the people of the
two countries also make efforts to better understand and work with each other.
"There are many areas where we are helping Vietnam, but I believe there are also
many areas where we can learn from the country. I am certain it will help us
greatly in the future if we work with the Vietnamese people while trying to give
them a good impression of Korea," Lee said.
The president also pledged support for some 90,000 Vietnamese residents in South
Korea in an earlier meeting with a group of South Korean and Vietnamese business
leaders.
Lee leaves for Cambodia on Thursday.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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