President Lee Jae-myung and Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith shook hands at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the 15th before their summit meeting. The two leaders agreed to elevate bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership and to establish a hotline and sign a police cooperation MOU to protect their citizens.
Presidential Spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung announced on the 15th that President Lee held a summit with President Thongloun, who is on an official visit to South Korea, to discuss ways to develop Korea-Laos relations and major regional and international issues. The two leaders agreed to elevate bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership and expand cooperation in broader and future-oriented fields such as infrastructure, key minerals, and climate change response.
The two leaders also signed the ‘Korea-Laos Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty and Extradition Treaty’ to combat transnational crimes such as online scams. An MOU on the dispatch of labor under the Employment Permit System was also renewed. Spokesperson Kang explained that the two leaders agreed to establish a hotline between the South Korean Embassy in Laos and the Laotian Ministry of Public Security to protect their citizens and to promptly sign the ‘Police Cooperation MOU’ under discussion between the two countries’ law enforcement authorities.
Spokesperson Kang also conveyed that President Lee expressed hope for South Korean companies to participate in the Luang Prabang International Airport development project being pursued by Laos. He also expressed expectations for the active promotion of mutually beneficial projects, such as establishing supply chains for key minerals like rare earth elements, based on Laos’ abundant natural resources and Korean technology. The two leaders also promised close cooperation on regional and international issues, including the Korean Peninsula and Korea-ASEAN relations.