South Korea: President Lee appoints new chief of special delegation to Vietnam

Seoul, July 28 (IANS) South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung has appointed Park Chang-dal, a former three-term lawmaker, as the new head of the special delegation to Vietnam, citing health reasons for the replacement, the presidential office said on Monday.

Park replaces former lawmaker Lee In-ki, who was originally designated to lead the delegation but withdrew due to health issues, the office said in a press notice.

The delegation also includes two lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party, Yoon Hu-duk and Baek Hye-ryun, Yonhap news agency reported.

Park is "expected to be well suited to announce the recovery of a democratic Korea and communicate the new administration's policy vision and foreign policy stance," the office said.

On July 25, Lee decided to dispatch special envoys to Poland, Vietnam, Australia and Germany to deliver personal letters and discuss ways to expand bilateral cooperation, the presidential office said.

The envoys will depart consecutively starting Sunday and will meet with key officials in each country to convey Lee's message and explore opportunities to enhance friendly and cooperative ties, according to presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung.

During their stay, they planned to meet with the government and parliamentary officials to review the growing defence industry cooperation between the two nations and discuss ways to further develop their strategic partnership, Kang said.

The Vietnam delegation was supposed to be led by former lawmaker Lee In-ki and include two additional DP lawmakers.

The group planned to deliver Seoul's commitment to strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the countries and hold wide-ranging discussions on expanding practical cooperation, particularly in infrastructure and energy.

Former National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo led the Australian delegation.

The delegation plans on engaging with Australian officials to discuss defence and defence industry ties, trade and supply chains and energy cooperation.

The delegation to Germany is supposed to be headed by Lee Seog-yeon, a former minister of government legislation, and will depart on Wednesday.

They plan to meet with German government officials to explore deeper cooperation in key sectors, such as manufacturing, digital transformation and artificial intelligence, as well as to exchange views on regional and global affairs.

--IANS

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