Vietnam affirms defense stance at Seoul Dialogue 2025

Vietnam firmly adheres to the "four no's" policy, considering transparency in military information, compliance with international law and commitment to resolving disputes by peaceful means as the basis for building trust.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, Deputy Minister of National Defense , took a photo with representatives of delegations attending SDD-14. (Photo: Khanh Van/VNA)

At the invitation of the Korean Ministry of National Defense, from September 8-10, the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense delegation led by Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien - Member of the Party Central Committee, Standing Member of the Central Military Commission, Deputy Minister of National Defense, attended and delivered an important speech at the 14th Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD-14).

The opening ceremony of SDD-14 took place on the morning of September 9 with the presence of about 1,000 security officials from 68 countries and international organizations, including 13 defense ministers and deputy ministers.

In his opening remarks, South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu Baek affirmed that Seoul will pursue the goal of reducing military tensions and denuclearizing North Korea, based on strong deterrence capabilities and solid combat readiness.

He emphasized the strategy of "taking national interests as the center," and affirmed that South Korea will continue to expand comprehensive partnerships to restore and establish peace not only on the Korean Peninsula, but also in the region and the world.

With the theme “Overcoming Geopolitical Challenges - Building Peace through Cooperation,” SDD-14 focused on discussing urgent global security issues, from measures to reduce military tensions, restore strategic stability to building future security capacity.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, Deputy Minister of National Defense of Vietnam, attended SDD -14. (Photo: Khanh Van/VNA)

At the 2nd Plenary Session with the theme "Reducing military tensions and establishing lasting trust," Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien delivered an important speech. He emphasized that the world is entering a new period of instability, where the spiral of suspicion and declining strategic trust risks leading to escalation of tensions and an arms race.

History has shown that multilateral mechanisms play a key role in preventing crises, reducing tensions and building long-term trust. Prominent ones today include the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, the Seoul Dialogue, the Shangri-La Dialogue, the Moscow Conference on International Security and especially the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+).

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien affirmed that Vietnam persistently pursues a policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, and is ready to be a friend and reliable partner of all countries. In the field of defense, Vietnam firmly adheres to the "four no's" policy, considering transparency of military information, compliance with international law and commitment to resolving disputes by peaceful means as the basis for building trust.

Regarding the East Sea issue, Vietnam's consistent stance is that all maritime disputes must be resolved by peaceful means, on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), fully and effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and making efforts to soon reach a substantive, effective, and efficient Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law.

To reduce military tensions and establish long-term trust, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien proposed five groups of solutions, including complying with international law; promoting multilateralism, promoting the role of international organizations, maintaining and expanding strategic dialogue on defense, security and diplomacy at all levels; respecting independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity; enhancing transparency in military policies, strategies and activities such as large-scale exercises, freedom of navigation and aviation activities, etc., while promoting the establishment of hotlines to handle emergency situations; committing to cooperation for peace, building strategic trust in the region and internationally.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, Deputy Minister of National Defense, participated in the discussion session on "Reducing military tensions and establishing long-term trust". (Photo: Khanh Van/VNA)

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien emphasized that reducing military tensions and establishing long-term trust is not only a political choice, but also an inevitable requirement to maintain peace, stability and development in the 21st century. Vietnam believes that with sincerity, genuine trust and a sense of responsibility, all parties can together push back the risk of conflict and join forces to build peace and common prosperity.

Within the framework of SDD-14, the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense delegation also had bilateral meetings with Malaysia, Singapore and Turkey./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/viet-nam-khang-dinh-lap-truong-quoc-phong-tai-doi-thoai-seoul-2025-post1060768.vnp