Lee Hyuk said that AKC has carried out numerous activities to boost cooperation between South Korea and ASEAN countries, particularly trade and investment in Vietnam. To reduce trade imbalance, AKC has actively supported enterprises investing in Vietnam and introduced promising infrastructure projects to them.
AKC has also organized meetings and forums to boost trade between the two countries. In 2018, AKC hosted a program in which officials from the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam were invited to South Korea to hold a workshop introducing Vietnam’s foreign investment policies.
 ASEAN-Korea Center’s Secretary General Lee Hyuk. Photo: Khanh Long |
As AKC Secretary General, Lee Hyuk has made major contributions to boosting cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. AKC has helped develop indigenous tourism in Mai Chau, Hoa Binh province, and built tourism in world cultural heritage Hoi An. The Center has also implemented a project to help those operating in the tourism and hotel industry in Vietnam.
Before he became AKC Secretary General, Lee Hyuk was a diplomat holding important posts. He was the Ambassador to Vietnam and the Philippines, Director General of the Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Presidential Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Minister for Planning and Coordination at the Blue House.
During his diplomatic career, Vietnam, Japan and the Philippines are the countries Lee Hyuk has had the closest relationship with. Due to their close geographical distance, Japan and Korea have similarities in culture and religion, according to Lee Hyuk. Vietnam has even more cultural similarities with South Korea than Japan. It did not take him a lot of time to adapt to life here because everything seemed familiar.
 With Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam to cheer on the Vietnamese U23 football team at the AFC Asian Cup. Photo: Files |
In his term of office as the Ambassador to Vietnam from April 2016 to April 2018, Lee Hyuk successfully organized major diplomatic events. These included a concert to mark the 25th anniversary of Vietnam-South Korea diplomatic relations in 2017, and President Moon Jae-in’s two visits to Vietnam in 2017 and 2018.
“Vietnam is truly meaningful to me because the country marked my last term of office as a Korean diplomat. I will remember meetings with my Vietnamese friends where we overcame geographical and cultural gaps to share many things,” Lee Hyuk said.
| The year 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-South Korea special relations. The ASEAN-Korea Center will organize special and big activities to mark this event, including ASEAN Week (in June), ASEAN-Korea Train (in October), and the first Mekong-South Korea summit to be attended by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea. |
