President Moon Jae-in will head to Vietnam Thursday, beginning his seven-day trip to the Southeast Asian nation and the United Arab Emirates.
  

Moon will kick off his trip to Vietnam with a meeting with Park Hang-seo, the head coach of Vietnam’s national under-23 soccer team. Moon will then attend the groundbreaking ceremony for a higher-education institution modeled after the Korea Institute of Science and Technology.

On the following day, Moon will hold meetings with Vietnam’s leaders, including President Tran Dai Quang.

According to a high-level government official, the priority of Moon’s visit to Vietnam is to consolidate a relationship of “future-oriented strategic partners.”

“Vietnam is Korea’s fifth-largest trade partner, and at the core of the new southern policy,” a high-level Cheong Wa Dae official said on condition of anonymity.

The new southern policy is Moon’s plan for expanding the country’s diplomatic and economic ties with Asian nations to the south of the peninsula. The policy goes in tandem with the new northern policy, which aims to achieve similar goals with Korea’s northern neighbors.

During his stay, Moon will also attend a business forum with Korean and Vietnamese business leaders.

Moon will be accompanied by a large delegation of business leaders including Park Yong-man, president of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin.

Moon will then head to Abu Dhabi, where he will hold summit talks, and attend the ceremony marking the completion of the nuclear power plant built with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

According to Cheong Wa Dae officials, Seoul hopes to upgrade relations with the UAE to that of “special strategic partners.”

The power plant, located in Baraka, was built by a South Korean consortium. The ceremony will mark the end of the construction phase, and power generation is set to start at the end of the year or early next year. During his stay in the UAE, Moon will also visit Dubai.

A delegation of corporate leaders will also be present during Moon’s trip to the UAE. According to Cheong Wa Dae officials, a number of business leaders will also be included in Moon’s meetings with UAE’s leaders. Korean businessmen accompanying Moon to the UAE will include Vice Chairman Yoon Boo-keun of Samsung Electronics, and SK Innovation CEO and President Kim Jun.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)