On 27 August 2021, His Excellency Mr. Chung Eui-yong, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (ROK), paid a courtesy call on
His Excellency General Prayut Chan-o-cha (Ret.), Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of Thailand, at the Government House on the occasion of his official visit to Thailand during 26-28 August 2021.

The Prime Minister of Thailand expressed satisfaction with the relations and strategic partnership between Thailand and the ROK. He reaffirmed Thailand’s readiness to cooperate with the ROK to advance cooperation in all dimensions, including supporting the ROK’s New Southern Policy and the New Southern Policy Plus. In this regard, both sides agreed to put into implementation the partnership on 3 priority areas, namely, green economy, future industries and health, as discussed between the Prime Minister of Thailand and His Excellency Mr. Moon Jae-in, President of
the Republic of Korea during their telephone conversation in May this year.

Both sides shared the view that on green economy, Thailand and the ROK could cooperate through synergizing Thailand’s Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model (BCG) and the ROK’s Green New Deal, with an aim to achieving balanced growth and sustainable development.
On future industries, the Prime Minister of Thailand invited the ROK’s private sector to invest in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), especially in the future electric vehicles, semiconductors and bio-health industries, in which the Korean side expressed interest. Both sides were also pleased that the ROK was the leading foreign investor in Thailand during the first quarter of this year, and viewed that there remain much more potential and opportunities for expanding trade and investment between the two countries. Both sides agreed to expand health cooperation.
The Prime Minister congratulated the Government of the ROK on the successful containment of the COVID-19 situation and President Moon’s policy in targeting for the ROK to become a global production hub for the COVID-19 vaccine by 2025. Both sides also looked forward to vaccine cooperation in the future.

Both sides welcomed close cultural and people-to-people relations between Thailand and the ROK. The Prime Minister expressed hope for resumption of travel between Thailand and the ROK once the COVID-19 situation subsides.
The Thai side expressed appreciation to
the Government of the ROK for its policy in providing COVID-19 vaccine inoculation for Thai nationals residing in the ROK, including Thai workers, while reaffirming the commitment by the Royal Thai Government to expeditiously and inclusively provide COVID-19 vaccines for foreign residents in the country, including Korean nationals.

On regional issues, the Prime Minister also commended the constructive roles of the ROK in the ASEAN, Mekong and ACMECS frameworks.