Providing information at the working session, Ms. Tran Thi Thu Tra, Deputy Head of the International Cooperation Department (VSS), stated that in January 2024, an online signing ceremony of the Implementation Agreement on Social Security between VSS and the National Pension Service of South Korea (NPS) took place. The signing ceremony is an important step to provide specific provisions and solutions for the competent authorities of the two countries to implement the Agreement in accordance with the principles and content agreed upon by the two Governments, while ensuring maximum convenience for state management agencies, implementing organizations, businesses, and workers of both sides.

Representatives of units under the Vietnam Social Security (VSS)

Currently, VSS is synthesizing opinions from ministries and sectors to improve documents guiding the implementation of the Agreement related to the social security subjects. To timely coordinate with the Embassy of South Korea in Vietnam to organize foreign information activities, propaganda about the organization of implementing the Agreement to Korean workers and businesses in Vietnam. Through this meeting, VSS hopes to receive exchange opinions as well as support from the Embassy of South Korea to ensure the effectiveness of the Agreement implementation.

At the working session, Labor and Employment Counselor (Embassy of South Korea) Ms. Kim Yoon Hye affirmed that the Social Security Agreement between Vietnam and South Korea is a significant advancement in ensuring the rights of workers globally; while also evaluating the role of VSS in implementing the Agreement as extremely important. Therefore, the Embassy of South Korea commits to providing full support, with the aim of ensuring the effectiveness of implementing the Agreement and safeguarding the rights of businesses and workers of both countries.

Ms. Kim Yoon Hye - Labor and Employment Counselor (Embassy of South Korea)

According to Ms. Kim Yoon Hye, due to the importance and urgency of the Agreement, since its successful signing, the Embassy has received many questions and inquiries from Korean workers. Therefore, through today's working session, the Embassy of South Korea hopes to exchange with the VSS to find the most timely communication direction regarding the content of the Agreement to workers of both countries.

Vietnam and South Korea are each other's leading important partners in many fields. In the over 30 years of establishing diplomatic relations, the Vietnam - South Korea cooperation has rapidly developed and made significant strides, deeply and widely, across many aspects, with important milestones such as from Comprehensive Partner in 2001 to Strategic Partner in 2009 and Comprehensive Strategic Partner in 2022.

The working session aims to coordinate propaganda about the Agreement

On December 14, 2021, in Seoul (South Korea), authorized by the Governments of both countries, Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung and South Korean Minister of Health and Welfare Kwon Deok Cheol signed a bilateral cooperation agreement on Social Security between the two Governments. The Agreement has been approved by the competent authorities of the two countries, and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both sides have notified each other of the completion of internal procedures for the Agreement to officially take effect from January 01, 2024. The signing of this Agreement aims to create favorable conditions for the mobility of workers as well as to protect the social security rights of workers of both countries.

According to Decision No. 436/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister on approving the Plan for implementing the Agreement between Vietnam and South Korea on Social Security, VSS is assigned as the focal agency, directly implementing the Agreement; actively coordinating with the implementing agency on the South Korean side to exchange and agree on the contents to be included in the draft Administrative Agreement, reporting to the competent state agencies in Vietnam for exchange, signing the Administrative Agreement with the competent state agency on the South Korean side, as a basis for VSS to organize the implementation of the Agreement.

In carrying out the above tasks, on December 8, 2023, in South Korea, Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Ba Hoan; Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare of South Korea Kim Hyejin signed the Administrative Agreement to implement the Agreement between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of the Republic of Korea on Social Security. By January 23, 2024, Deputy Director General of VSS Dao Viet Anh and Deputy Director General in charge of retirement of the NPS of South Korea Kim Jeong Hark signed the online Agreement to implement the Social Security Agreement. This is one of the final steps to begin the implementation of the bilateral Social Security Agreement between Vietnam and South Korea.