▲ President Lee Jae Myung (R) toasts with Vietnamese leader To Lam during a dinner banquet at the state guest house of the presidential compound Cheong Wa Dae in this file photo taken Feb. 11, 2025, during Lam's visit to South Korea. (Yonhap)

Lee-Vietnam leader

Lee thanks Vietnam for support following S. Korean politician's death in phone talks with To Lam

SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung on Friday thanked Vietnam for its cooperation in posthumous arrangements for a late South Korean politician during phone talks with Vietnam's leader To Lam, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.

The phone talks came after the Vietnamese government provided assistance following the death of former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan in Ho Chi Minh City earlier this week.

Lee, a prominent politician in South Korea's liberal bloc, died at a hospital on Sunday while visiting the Southeast Asian country as a senior vice president of a presidential advisory council for unification. Lee's body was brought home on Tuesday.

"President Lee conveyed his heartfelt gratitude for the special cooperation and courtesies extended by the Vietnamese side throughout the entire process, from medical treatment to the transfer of the coffin," presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written briefing.

Lam expressed deep condolences and offered comfort on behalf of the Vietnamese people, Kang said.

Lee congratulated Lam for his reappointment as the general secretary of Vietnam's Communist Party, saying that South Korea will continue to be a strategic partner for Vietnam.

Lam, in turn, said Vietnam highly values its cooperation with South Korea and hoped the bilateral relations will further develop, according to Kang. He also expressed hope that Lee and first lady Kim Hea Kyung will visit Vietnam at an early date.

Thanking Lam for the invitation, Lee said he hopes the two countries will continue to explore mutually beneficial cooperation in strategic sectors, such as nuclear power plants, high-speed railway and city developments.

Lee also asked for Vietnam's continued support for and attention to South Korean businesses in Vietnam to ensure their smooth operations.

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