President Lee Hosts State Banquet for Korea-Vietnam with Attendees Choi Tae-won, Chung Eui-sun, Koo Kwang-mo, Shin Dong-bin

[Financial News] In commemoration of the state visit of Party Secretary General To Lam from Vietnam, a state banquet hosted by President Lee Jae-myung and his spouse will be held on the evening of the 11th, as announced by Kang Yoo-jung, spokesperson for the Presidential Office, in a written briefing.
In addition to President Lee and his spouse, the banquet will be attended by key aides from the Presidential Office such as Kang Hoon-sik, Chief of Staff, and Wi Sung-rak, Director of National Security Office; government officials including Koo Yoon-chul, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Strategy and Finance, and Bae Kyung-hoon, Minister of Science and ICT; political figures such as Kim Tae-nyeon, a member of the Democratic Party and former chairman of the Korea-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Association of the 21st National Assembly, and Kim Seok-ki, a member of the People Power Party and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee of the 22nd National Assembly.
Additionally, business figures actively expanding into Vietnam such as Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, Koo Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group, and Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte Group; financial figures such as Kang Ho-dong, Chairman of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, and Jung Sang-hyuk, President of Shinhan Bank; medium and small enterprise and startup figures such as Lee Jung-hoon, CEO of Seoul Semiconductor, and Choi Jin-sik, Chairman of SIMPAC and President of the Korea Federation of Medium Enterprises; and cultural, academic, and sports figures including Park Hang-seo, former head coach of the Vietnam national football team who received the Labor Order and Certificate of Appreciation from the Vietnamese government, actor Ahn Jae-wook who gained great popularity in Vietnam, writer Hwang In-kyung who is about to publish the novel 'Ah! Ho Chi Minh', and Tran Bao Minh, the first foreign (Vietnamese) player to compete in the 2025 Korea League of Legends Champions Korea 1st Division, are expected to participate, totaling 66 people.
From the Vietnamese side, 55 people will attend, including Party Secretary General To Lam, Madam Ngo Phuong Ly, Nguyen Duy Ngoc, Chairman of the Central Inspection Committee, Luong Tam Quang, Minister of Public Security, and Phan Van Giang, Minister of National Defense.
The banquet will begin with the national anthems of both countries being played in turn, followed by President Lee's banquet speech and toast proposal. Then, Party Secretary General To Lam's response and toast proposal will take place, and the banquet and conversation will naturally proceed.
The concept of the banquet menu, prepared as fusion Korean cuisine, is inspired by the fact that the descendants of Vietnamese Prince Yi Yong-sang, who settled in the Korean Peninsula at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty, settled in Bonghwa, Gyeongsangbuk-do after the Korean War, and will utilize local specialties from that region.
The menu includes seafood salad with Bonghwa mountain herbs and tri-color wheat wraps, summer nourishing young chicken porridge, seasonal croaker grilled with Bonghwa soybean paste sauce, Bonghwa Korean beef short rib patties grilled with summer wrap rice and kimchi spring rolls, and buckwheat tea with persimmon crème brûlée.
After the banquet, there are plans to watch performances that allow Korea and Vietnam to understand and approach each other more deeply through art. First, a collaboration between the Gyeonggi Sinawi Orchestra and Vietnamese traditional string instrument Dan Bau player Yang Bao-kan will be held, followed by a traditional Cheo performance by the Vietnam National Traditional Theater. Then, Yiruma, a master of New Age music in Korea, will perform his representative pieces; Yiruma is the musician that Party Secretary General To Lam most wants to meet in Korea. Finally, the CBS Boys and Girls Choir will present a harmony of hope and unity, concluding the banquet performance.

syj@fnnews.com Seo Young-jun Reporter