[INTERVIEW] Incoming Vietnamese ambassador to start with bilateral ties at peak

Nguyen Vu Tung, president of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) and the country's ambassador-designate to Seoul, speaks with The Korea Times during an exclusive interview at DAV in Hanoi, Jan. 7. A career diplomat, he has served as president of DAV, an academic institution operated under the auspices of the Vietnamese foreign ministry, since 2016. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo

By Yi Whan-woo

HANOI — Serving as the Vietnamese ambassador in Seoul this year will mean shouldering heavier responsibilities than usual, in accordance with Vietnam's expanding presence in ASEAN-South Korea relations that marked their 30th anniversary in 2019.

Vietnam has taken the chair in the one-year, rotating chairmanship of the 10-member ASEAN, with which President Moon Jae-in wants to build on the success of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea (ROK) Commemorative Summit in Busan last year and enhance his signature New Southern Policy.

Vietnam is also serving as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council from 2020 to 2021, with denuclearization dialogue being further jeopardized after North Korea dropped its moratorium on tests of nuclear weapons.

It appears that bilateral relations are at a high, with Vietnam being South Korea's No. 1 investment destination and the most-visited country in ASEAN. Of course, Park Hang-seo fever is another plus factor.

And this is where Nguyen Vu Tung will come in as the next Vietnamese ambassador to South Korea, possibly by the end of June, after serving as president of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV).

Celebrating 60 years in 2019, DAV is an elite academic institution nurturing aspiring diplomats under the auspices of the Vietnamese foreign ministry.

"You heard it right. My term is expected to begin in the middle of this year," he said in an exclusive interview with The Korea Times last month on the sidelines of its coverage of the ASEAN-Korea Youth Academic Workshop in Hanoi.

South Korea's foreign ministry confirmed its agreement for his appointment as the next ambassador to Seoul, Jan 28. He will replace Nguyen Vu Tu, who has served here since April 2017.

DAV was one of the academic institutions visited by the participants in the workshop hosted by the ASEAN-Korea Centre, an intergovernmental organization in Seoul tasked with promoting economic and socio-cultural cooperation in the region.

"I would like to elevate the bilateral relationship to a higher pitch and look forward to working with my partners in Korea soon," Nguyen Vu Tung said. "We can promote better relations between Vietnam and Korea and share a better understanding of each other and our societies."

Regarding ASEAN-South Korea relations after their 2019 commemorative summit, he said he would like to "help implement the next phase of relations and consolidate the success" of the New Southern Policy.

Introduced in 2017, the policy is aimed at deepening ties with ASEAN. President Moon is seeking fresh momentum from the Busan meeting for a New Southern Policy 2.0 in the latter half of his 2017-22 presidency.

"The summit marked a new stage in developments between ASEAN and South Korea," Nguyen Vu Tung said, adding this will speed up the policy's goal of building a community of people, prosperity and peace ― collectively known as the 3Ps.

A career diplomat, Nguyen Vu Tung was deputy chief of mission at the Vietnamese Embassy in the United States from July 2010 to January 2014, before becoming DAV president in 2016.

He earned a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1998 and a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University in 2003.

He is one of DAV alumni who have taken top posts in Vietnamese and international diplomatic circles.

Among the alumni are Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to the U.N. Dang Dinh Quy, former ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh, ASEAN Deputy Secretary General Hoang Anh Tuan and incumbent Vietnamese Ambassador to South Korea Nguyen Vu Tu.

Nguyen's main areas of teaching, research and publications include international relations theories, international relations in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific, Vietnam's foreign policy and its relations with the U.S., China and ASEAN.

A banner celebrating 60 years of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) last year hangs on a wall during DAV President Nguyen Vu Tung's talks with The Korea Times at DAV in Hanoi, Jan. 7. / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo

The ambassador-designate reckoned the inaugural Mekong-ROK Summit will be a "good basis" when it comes to sub-regional cooperation with ASEAN.

Also held in Busan after the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit, the Mekong meeting involved the five Mekong sub-region countries ― Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Except for Thailand, the four, collectively labeled as CLMV, are latecomers to ASEAN and are still in the early stages of development.

The leaders of the five and South Korea agreed to share the latter's development experience and to prioritize cooperation in seven sectors.

They are human resources development, agriculture and rural development, infrastructure, information and communication technology (ICT), the environment, and non-traditional security challenges.

Asked about Vietnam's goal as the 2020 ASEAN chair, Nguyen underscored consolidating the cohesiveness and centrality of ASEAN.

"By doing so, we can be more united, stronger and more responsive to the changes within and outside the bloc," he said. "And Korea has roles to play in helping us to implement those two values."

Vietnam, host of the second U.S.-North Korea summit in February 2019, was touted as a possible economic development model for the North.

Nguyen said Vietnam's development could be applied "case by case and piece and piece."

Also to be taken into account is the international community reaching out to the isolated North to socialize and engage while sharing experiences.

"Socializing means to make North Korea less isolated and hostile so that it may be encouraged to engage with the outside world better," Nguyen said. "After that, the North may open up its economy and choose the best and most profitable model for economic social and political development."

When asked about South Korea's ASEAN investment being heavily focused on Vietnam, he said joint projects involving all the Mekong five, such as water management and healthcare, can be options to benefit other ASEAN countries.

He said South Korean investment is a "business calculation" and that any investment decisions should be left to the relevant companies themselves.