FM Gong begins talks in Hanoi

FM Gong begins talks in Hanoi

HANOI (AFP): South Korean Foreign Minister Gong Ro-myung began a day of official talks here yesterday that were expected to focus on economic links and tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Gong was to spend the day in talks with his counterpart Nguyen Manh Cam and was to pay courtesy calls on Communist Party General Secretary Do Muoi, President Le Duc Anh and Deputy Premier Tran Duc Luong.

The South Korean minister arrived in Ho Chi Minh City last Saturday and held talks with local officials, including the city's Communist Party chief, Truong Tan Sang.

Sang, a rising member of the Vietnamese leadership, told the minister that relations between the countries would not be affected by a large number of labor disputes involving South Korean companies.

A South Korean factory supervisor is due to go on trial tomorrow for beating 17 workers with a half-finished shoe at the Sam Yang Shoe Factory in Cu Chi outside Ho Chi Minh City.