ASEAN Beat | Diplomacy | Southeast Asia

Vietnam and South Korea Agree to Boost Cooperation on Supply Chains, Nuclear Energy

Amid the current conflict in the Middle East, President Lee Jae Myung said that “the need for cooperation between our nations has grown even greater.”

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung takes part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam, Apr. 22, 2026.

Vietnam and South ‌Korea yesterday agreed to boost cooperation in nuclear energy and advanced technologies and to strengthen vital supply chains, as they both attempt to manage the economic fallout from the war in the Middle East.

At a meeting in Hanoi yesterday, their second in the past eight months, Vietnam’s top leader To Lam and ​South Korean President Lee Jae Myung attended the signing of 12 agreements, including ​on energy, infrastructure, and security cooperation, South Korea’s Chosun Daily reported. Two of these related to Seoul’s possible ⁠cooperation on the development and financing of a nuclear power plant in southern Vietnam.

Lee arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday from India with a large business delegation in tow for a visit aimed at pursuing “strategic and mutually beneficial cooperation” at a time of growing global uncertainty.

“Amid supply chain instability stemming from recent Middle East tensions, we share the recognition that the need for cooperation between our nations has grown even greater,” Lee said in a joint statement issued after the meeting. “We have agreed to collaborate more closely to strengthen energy security and stabilize supply chains.”

In addition to meeting with Lam, Lee yesterday paid tribute at the mausoleum of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh and met with members of the Korean expat community in Hanoi. He is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man before departing Vietnam on April 24.

Lam and Lee also reaffirmed their intention to expand two-way bilateral trade to $150 billion by 2030, up from $94.6 billion in 2025. South Korea is the largest investor in Vietnam, with around 10,000 Korean enterprises based in the country. Apparently addressing concerns by South Korean firms about recent Vietnamese regulatory changes, Lam said in a statement that his government would strive to “create an open, transparent, and convenient investment environment to ensure that South Korean companies can invest stably and sustainably in Vietnam.”

The two leaders also agreed to “support Vietnamese businesses in joining South Korea’s production, supply and distribution chains, contributing to the ​development of an independent and self-reliant economy,” Lam added after the meeting.

As Reuters notes, further economic integration with South Korea could also help Vietnam reduce its dependence on China and enmeshment in China-centered supply chains, which have become a point of contention between it and Washington. The Trump administration is particularly concerned about the possibility that Chinese goods are ​being routed through Vietnam, and manufactured there with little value-added, in order ​to avoid U.S. tariffs

Aside from this, the agreement on nuclear power could be significant for Vietnam, which is planning to build two nuclear power plants in Ninh Thuan Province on the country’s southeastern coast.

Last month, Vietnam and Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom signed an agreement for the development of two nuclear reactors at the planned Ninh Thuan 1 power plant on the country’s southeastern coast. But the second project  (Ninh Thuan 2) remains without an international partner after Japan withdrew from the project late last year, arguing that the planned deadline of 2035 was too tight.

The current Hormuz energy crisis has underscored the urgency of the CPV’s search for reliable energy sources that can power its planned industrial upscaling. In late 2024, Hanoi announced its intention to restart its nuclear energy program, which it had abandoned in 2016 due to concerns about safety and economic sustainability.

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Vietnam and South ‌Korea yesterday agreed to boost cooperation in nuclear energy and advanced technologies and to strengthen vital supply chains, as they both attempt to manage the economic fallout from the war in the Middle East.

At a meeting in Hanoi yesterday, their second in the past eight months, Vietnam’s top leader To Lam and ​South Korean President Lee Jae Myung attended the signing of 12 agreements, including ​on energy, infrastructure, and security cooperation, South Korea’s Chosun Daily reported. Two of these related to Seoul’s possible ⁠cooperation on the development and financing of a nuclear power plant in southern Vietnam.

Lee arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday from India with a large business delegation in tow for a visit aimed at pursuing “strategic and mutually beneficial cooperation” at a time of growing global uncertainty.

“Amid supply chain instability stemming from recent Middle East tensions, we share the recognition that the need for cooperation between our nations has grown even greater,” Lee said in a joint statement issued after the meeting. “We have agreed to collaborate more closely to strengthen energy security and stabilize supply chains.”

In addition to meeting with Lam, Lee yesterday paid tribute at the mausoleum of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh and met with members of the Korean expat community in Hanoi. He is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man before departing Vietnam on April 24.

Lam and Lee also reaffirmed their intention to expand two-way bilateral trade to $150 billion by 2030, up from $94.6 billion in 2025. South Korea is the largest investor in Vietnam, with around 10,000 Korean enterprises based in the country. Apparently addressing concerns by South Korean firms about recent Vietnamese regulatory changes, Lam said in a statement that his government would strive to “create an open, transparent, and convenient investment environment to ensure that South Korean companies can invest stably and sustainably in Vietnam.”

The two leaders also agreed to “support Vietnamese businesses in joining South Korea’s production, supply and distribution chains, contributing to the ​development of an independent and self-reliant economy,” Lam added after the meeting.

As Reuters notes, further economic integration with South Korea could also help Vietnam reduce its dependence on China and enmeshment in China-centered supply chains, which have become a point of contention between it and Washington. The Trump administration is particularly concerned about the possibility that Chinese goods are ​being routed through Vietnam, and manufactured there with little value-added, in order ​to avoid U.S. tariffs

Aside from this, the agreement on nuclear power could be significant for Vietnam, which is planning to build two nuclear power plants in Ninh Thuan Province on the country’s southeastern coast.

Last month, Vietnam and Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom signed an agreement for the development of two nuclear reactors at the planned Ninh Thuan 1 power plant on the country’s southeastern coast. But the second project  (Ninh Thuan 2) remains without an international partner after Japan withdrew from the project late last year, arguing that the planned deadline of 2035 was too tight.

The current Hormuz energy crisis has underscored the urgency of the CPV’s search for reliable energy sources that can power its planned industrial upscaling. In late 2024, Hanoi announced its intention to restart its nuclear energy program, which it had abandoned in 2016 due to concerns about safety and economic sustainability.

Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat. 

South Korea-Vietnam relations

Vietnam nuclear program

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