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Millennials rejoice: Wedge sandals are back!

Katie NotopoulosSave
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Celebrities like Sienna Miller, Kiernan Shipka, Jerry Hall, and Pat Cleveland clap for designer Chemena Kamali of Chloé.Stephane Cardinale - Corbis📷

Chloé's runway show this week featured models (and celebs) in high-heeled wedge sandals.
Platform wedges were popular in the late '00s and 2010s, but have fallen out of style. Until now.
Finally, a trend that's come back that we can get behind.
📷📷📷I gasped when I saw a TikTok from Vogue France from the runway show in Paris for the high fashion brand Chloé. It wasn't the clothes on the models but rather the image of the celebrities sitting in the front row — all wearing big, chunky platform wedge sandals.The clothes, the debut collection from Chloé's new designer Chemena Kamali, were very nice, too. But I was laser-focused on those wedges.View this post on InstagramA post shared by Vogue France (@voguefrance)I remember these platform wedges being incredibly popular around 2010, and I had a few pairs (definitely not Chloé; probably Payless). Loved them. But after a few years, like all trends, it fizzled and looked outdated.Technically, Vogue already declared "wedge sandals are back" last April. But seeing these clompy wood and leather wedges in the wild, well, on my phone screen, set my heart aflutter. Finally, something good has come back in style.Elder millennials have suffered the indignity of seeing some of the trends of their youth come back — low-rise jeans, trucker hats. But wedge sandals? These are flattering to nearly everyone, they make you taller, they go well with lots of things, and most importantly: They're comfortable. Best of all, they are capable of walking across grass or sand for a summertime outdoor formal https://t.co/0IfqSp4gNs York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman said in her review of the show, "Get ready to wear a lot of wooden clogs and wedges again." Aye aye. I'm ready.

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Retail investors are back – and they're a lot savvier than they were in their YOLO days

Aruni SoniSave
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Wall Street BetsSOPA Images/Getty Images📷

Retail investors have made a comeback, and they're a lot savvier than they were in the meme-stock era.
Net purchases of equities by retail investors hit a year-to-date peak in early February.
"They are looking for growth, but they're looking for growth at a reasonable price."
📷📷📷After riding the meme stock rollercoaster of 2021, getting burned in the bear market of 2022, and getting whipsawed by volatility in 2023, retail investors are back in the saddle.Unlike the days of the YOLO trade though, they're more discerning, smarter, and savvier, stock market experts say."I think the difference is that investors are saying, 'Yep, we want to participate in the full run, but we don't need to bet the house on it,'" Joe Mazzola, director of trading and education at Charles Schwab, told Business Insider.Hopping on to the turbocharged rally that began in October, retail investors have been steadily snapping up more stocks. Daily net purchases hit a year-to-date peak in early February at $1.5 billion across equities, and total trading volume has tripled since pre-COVID.But even though the S&P 500 is breaking new records and the sugar-rush rally is a marked reversal from anemic 2022 and wobbly 2023, the cohort of investors are more measured in their enthusiasm lately. The total volume traded is below trends of the previous bull market rallies in the past few years."It is like they want to participate — they don't want to miss out on the rally too much — but they're doing it mainly by the bigger names," said Marco Lachini, senior vice president at Vanda Research, which tracks retail trader activity across stocks and ETFs."Instead, they're using SPY or QQQ instead of the triple QQQ or a lot of the heavy usage of leveraged ETFs in 2021 that has diminished significantly after they got burned," he added, referring to the popular S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 https://t.co/emvirdwI7c the peak of the meme-stock era, retail investors were lapping up shares of things like leveraged ETFs, which amplify the returns and the losses of the underlying assets they track. They loved small companies that didn't need to have rock-solid balance sheets, like GameStop and AMC. They were also big on squeezing stocks in what seemed like a David-and-Goliath fight against short sellers on Wall Street.Then the market tanked in 2022. Faithful to the "diamond hands" never-sell mantra, retail traders stuck it out and saw the value of their portfolios shrivel by around 30% towards the end of the https://t.co/tlsk5dCSbi, the unhinged speculative frenzy has tapered. For one, hedge funds have become smarter at anticipating attempts to squeeze stocks, but retail investors have also matured.A key reason why trading activity hasn't touched the 2021 levels is because the memory of being burned in 2022 is too fresh, Lachini explained. As retail investor portfolios have finally caught up with the all-time highs, they're not big on making big YOLO bets.And having jumped into the latest bull market rally right on time, there's no FOMO mentality fueling their investments. Instead of aggressively buying the dip, gobbling up meme trades, and heavily piling into single names, investors today are more balanced between stocks and ETFs."They are looking for growth, but they're looking for growth at a reasonable price," Mazzola from Charles Schwab said. "Whereas in 2021, it was, 'Where is the opportunity? How can I get in and get out before this trade ends?'"AI over meme stocks
While the occasional meme stock still goes parabolic now and then, retail investors are riding the hype train in other parts of the market, like AI."Investors are really buying into the AI story, and I think that they're using opportunities when they do get pullbacks," Mazzola said.According to VandaTrack data, Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and the QQQ were in the top five shares that saw the largest net inflows in the past month."What I see month to month is that what goes down, our customers buy a little more of, and what goes up a lot, they trim a little bit," Steph Guild, head of investment strategy at Robinhood, said in an interview.Those patterns mimic that of a "long-term investor" she said — something that wasn't exactly a part of their brand before. They are also exploring different themes beyond the proverbial Magnificent 7 trade. They've been dipping into healthcare, financial tech, and even cruise lines."We are seeing more diversification in what's owned in portfolios, generally speaking, than let's say two years ago or three years ago," Guild said. "And it doesn't seem to be as socially fueled. While there is discourse on social media obviously about this, it's not like necessarily everybody's piling into one name or two names."And they are feeling pretty good about their choices. According to a recent Charles Schwab poll, traders' confidence in their own decision-making hit the highest level in survey history at 68%.

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Sorry, boys — F1 is for the girls now

Maria NoyenSave
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Getty Images; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/BI📷

Formula 1 fans don't look the same as they used to.
The female fan base has continued to grow, especially in the US.
Some fans are Gen Zers redefining the coverage on TikTok despite pushback from older generations.
📷📷📷Bella Jung didn't particularly care for Formula 1 growing up. Not the way her dad did."He's always been interested in cars," Jung, a 24-year-old product designer at Oracle, told Business Insider. "But we never really talked about it."It's not like she didn't like sports — she grew up in a family of sports lovers, so naturally, she "absorbed a decent amount of knowledge" about the American classics: basketball, baseball, and football.But Jung didn't consider herself a huge fan. And when it came to F1, she often felt intimidated to ask how it worked.Bella Jung. Courtesy of Bella Jung
📷That is, until roughly a year ago, when she started watching Netflix's "Drive to Survive," a docuseries providing behind-the-scenes glimpses of a race season through interviews with the drivers, team principals, and https://t.co/vAzpLzcSVI first premiered in 2019 and released its sixth installment on February 23.The impact of "DTS" on F1 is undeniable. In 2023, Statista reported that more than one in five F1 followers from the US said the docuseries played a "major factor" in their choice to become fans. The success of "DTS" has also led to copycat series cropping up for other sports like tennis, golf, and NASCAR.Not everyone is a fan of the Netflix series, though. Some longtime followers of the sport, including Jung's dad, blame "DTS" for turning F1 into a reality show akin to the "Real Housewives" franchise."My dad was like, 'It overdramatizes it. It's not accurate,'" she said. "I watched it and was like, 'OK, that's true. But at least I know who the people are, and you can see the humanity behind the sport.'"Carlos Sainz ahead of the Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix on November 17, 2023. Kym Illman/Getty Images
📷Jung didn't just like what she saw. She loved it."I started to turn on all my notifications for F1 on Instagram, Twitter, all of social media," she said.Jung decided to take her newfound F1 fandom a step further by creating a TikTok account dedicated to the culture around the sport."I was interested in the stories behind a lot of the drivers," she said. "As I was learning a lot more about F1, I wanted to share that."It wasn't long until she discovered a community of like-minded F1 racing buffs — many of whom were women.Some women, including Lissie Mackintosh and Toni Cowan-Brown, had been covering the sport for a while, using internet platforms to launch fully-fledged careers as F1 commentators.But many were newbies, like Jung. They all played a part in transforming the traditionally male-dominated F1 fandom.The old boys' club
Jung entered the F1 fandom at a time of great change for the sport and its viewers.F1 held its first Grand Prix in the UK in 1950. From the start, it's fair to say the sport was an old boys' club. Drivers often came from affluent European families, which is still the case. And nearly all of them have been men.Nothing in the official rules prevents women from racing in F1. And yet, in the 70-plus years since its founding, there have been so few opportunities for women to race and lead teams. There's been one female team principal, and only two female drivers have officially qualified for a race in the sport's https://t.co/oN7HzNanoC 1975, Lella Lombardi, nicknamed the "F1 Female Trailblazer," became the first and only woman to score points in a Grand Prix.F1 driver Lella Lombardi in 1973. Ronald Dumont/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
📷For decades, the lack of female representation mirrored the demographics of those tuning in to watch races. But things started changing soon after "DTS" came https://t.co/yMbE7poOje November 2022, F1 Group CEO Stefano Domenicali said that about 40% of F1 fans were female, an 8% increase from 2017. ESPN also reported that more female viewers in the US watched the 2022 F1 season than ever before.For some key figures in F1, it's a welcome change.Speaking to Today in 2023, McLaren's Lando Norris called the "huge amount of girls" in the fandom "a good thing, not only for the sport as a whole to increase the variety of people that are watching, but also for girls to get into racing."'If a girl gets something wrong, they know absolutely nothing'
The new wave of F1 fans hasn't always met with open arms. In 2022, for instance, multiple female fans said they were harassed by male spectators at the Austrian Grand Prix, The Guardian reported. F1, as well as several team principals and drivers, issued statements condemning the behavior."People should come here and feel included and follow whoever it is you want to follow," Lewis Hamilton said in response to the reports. "It should not matter about your gender, your sexuality, the color of your skin."But harassment against female fans continues to exist online.Jung is among several F1 female fans who have received disparaging social-media comments and questions about how much they really know about the sport.Neha Sridhar, a 24-year-old software engineer, told BI she's been a fan of all kinds of sports her whole life but became increasingly drawn to F1 after watching "DTS."Neha Sridhar. Courtesy of Neha Sridhar
📷Like Jung, Sridhar runs an F1 TikTok account, though hers leans toward the tech side of things. "Tech strategy, data, that is my bread and butter," she said.Still, she said "traditional" F1 fans, both online and in person, have accused her of only liking the sport because she has a crush on the drivers."They're like, 'You obviously only watch F1 because you think Charles Leclerc is attractive. It's only because you think Carlos Sainz is attractive,'" she said. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, they're in a car with a helmet on. If I wanted to do that, I could watch any other sport.""We are also just as interested in cars going in crazy circles," Sridhar added.Dealing with male F1 fans has made some women feel like they have extra pressure to know their stuff."You already have preconceptions of you," Jung said. "If you feed into that by not having any of the things you're talking about based in fact or truth, then that's even more ways someone could come for you."Jung said there have been times she has posted F1 videos only to take them down out of fear of being called out by male fans.Meanwhile, Sridhar said she meticulously scripts her videos on the sport to avoid criticism."I want to be taken seriously," she said. "I also want to get as much out there as possible while facing the least amount of potential hate."The double standards aren't lost on them. "If a guy gets something wrong, it's fine, we'll gloss over it," Sridhar said. "If a girl gets something wrong, they know absolutely nothing."You can be a 'fangirl,' no matter who you are
Irene Su is another racing fan and F1 content creator. For Su, a 22-year-old jewelry designer, it wasn't love at first sight with the https://t.co/WDDTXLciB8 college, a friend who was F1 "obsessed" made her watch a race. "Then I didn't watch Formula 1 for a while because I was like, 'This is actually really confusing. I don't like this.'" she https://t.co/xuw3s9Y8Gt was only when Su started watching "DTS" that it clicked. "Seeing people's personalities helped me feel like I got to know the drivers and started making the connection of who's who," she said.And Su's also no stranger to negative comments on her F1 TikToks. Most of the time, she's happy to ignore or delete them, she said.Irene Su. Courtesy of Irene Su
📷"I brush it under the rug because I literally do not care," Su said. "This is a comment that so many people see all the time, and I'm like, 'Please be more creative if you're going to try to bully me. If you're going to do it, put some thought into it.'"But she said the reaction many female sports fans get isn't unique to F1, pointing to the flak Taylor Swift has gotten for attending NFL games."It is so clear that for whatever reason, people do not want sports to get any bigger than what it is," she said. "They do not want to grow their community; they want to gatekeep."Those gatekeepers might also try to discredit female fans by labeling them "fangirls." Sadly, for those doing the name-calling, the fangirls don't see it as negative."In some ways, everyone is a fangirl," Sridhar said. "Even a guy can be a fangirl.""Fangirl just sounds a bit more girly," Jung said. "But you can be intelligent, understand the sport, and know the rules like any other fan."George Russell and Lewis Hamilton before the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2023. Gongora/NurPhoto via Getty Images
📷Some F1 fangirls also say there's a "pipeline" connecting their love of the sport to pop-culture fandoms, especially those dominated by women."It's really fun to bring this lighthearted element into the sport," Su said. "Women are able to build communities in such a strong way.""There's this very natural path for people who liked One Direction at some point to follow this path to F1, which is 100% me," Sridhar said.The parallel between F1 and pop-culture fandoms also helps contextualize big news for those less familiar with the sport. When Hamilton announced he was leaving Mercedes for Ferarri, Sridhar said she helped colleagues who were less in the know about F1 by equating it to Zayn Malik leaving One Direction in 2015."They were like, 'Oh, I get it,'" she said. "The cultural impact of that in the fangirl world, Formula 1 fangirls were feeling exactly that — and you can't tell me that men were feeling any differently."The 'fangirls' are here to stay
As F1's viewership continues to change, the women said content from diverse creators is crucial to keeping up the momentum around the sport."This male perspective isn't what is catering to other more diverse audiences," Sridhar said."We're seeing people are coming for the drivers," she added. "But ultimately, they're staying. And you need to keep them interested because otherwise, it'll just get old."Whether original F1 fans want it or not, the fangirls are here to represent the newer audiences while simultaneously holding the sport accountable.Neha Sridhar. Courtesy of Neha Sridhar
📷They drive conversations about diversity within F1, which they say is still a huge issue — and not just in terms of gender, but race and income, too."There is definitely a problem," Jung said. "There are so many races in different places in the world, but there aren't as many drivers coming from those locations."When it comes to gender, there has been some progress, notably the launch of the F1 Academy, an all-female race series focused on helping female drivers reach the highest levels of motorsport competitions like F1. The program is directed by Susie Wolff, a former racing driver and the wife of Mercedes' team principal, Toto Wolff."Seeing those doors open for more women at the ground up to have them come into Formula 1, hopefully, it will bring on this new wave of engineers and strategists," Sridhar said. But, she added, "we need more."Neha Sridhar, Irene Su, and Bella Jung. Courtesy of Neha Sridhar
📷Ultimately, the women said the way they admire the sport isn't any different from male fans.Some care more about the drivers, while others are intrigued by the off-track drama. Some are obsessed with the tech and livery of the cars, and some aspire to careers in the industry.Jung, for example, said she's contemplating a future working in sports, something she'd never given much thought to before getting into F1."It's built up my confidence in becoming interested in sports and having a voice," she https://t.co/SJds7aSjcq ambitions aside, being an F1 fan has also helped her connect with the men in her life, including her dad."It's been funny now talking to my brother and my dad about Formula 1 because they don't know as much as I do now," she said.
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An Indian mega-party is attracting so many private jets that officials set up extra passport control for all the VIPs

Kieran CorcoranSave
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A file photo of Ananat Ambani and Radhika Merchant, the super-wealthy Indians whose marriage is attracting the world's billionaires.SUJIT JAISWAL/AFP via Getty Images📷

India's Ambani family is hosting a three-day pre-wedding party, attracting the world's elite.
Guests like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Ivanka Trump, led to a surge in private jets at the local airport.
Government officials agreed to set up a passport-control center especially for the event.
📷📷📷The party of the month (year?) is underway in India, and the local airport is pulling out all the stops to cope.The Ambani family is hosting a bash for one of its scions, Anant, to get married to Radhika Merchant.The Ambanis are Asia's richest family, with its patriarch Mukesh Ambani worth $111 https://t.co/fNBV6t6Did has him 11th on its Billionaire Index, thanks to the vast wealth of his company Reliance Industries.Ivanka Trump arrives for the Ambani wedding pre-party in Jamnagar, India. Ajit Solanki/AP
📷He's a touch behind Google founder Sergei Brin and ahead of Mexico's Carlos Slim, once the richest man on earth.This isn't the actual wedding, which is in July. It's a pre-wedding party, and is due to go on for three days in Reliance Township in the Indian state of Gujarat.Joining the fun are Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Fink, Ivanka Trump, and an array of the richest and most famous people in India. Rihanna is performing.That kind of guestlist brings a long trail of private jets and the local airport in Jamnagar isn't built for it.Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan arriving for the party. -
📷An article posted by India's The Hindu newspaper marveled at the 150 planes descending at roughly the same https://t.co/rRFV6BlXn3 said around 50 of them were private jets coming from other countries, meaning passport control for their occupants.If you think that might mean billionaires irately standing in line, like they had to at Davos, you would be https://t.co/qAK2SS8r6i airport official told The Hindu that he'd spoken to the Indian government and laid on some extra capacity for the powerful guests."With the permission of the Government of India, we have set up a Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine (CIQ) centre at the airport. This is meant to facilitate the international visitors landing directly at Jamnagar," DK Singh, the airport's director, said.Everyone, it seems, is determined to make the party an impressive one.

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An Indian mega-party is attracting so many private jets that officials set up extra passport control for all the VIPs

Kieran CorcoranSave
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A file photo of Ananat Ambani and Radhika Merchant, the super-wealthy Indians whose marriage is attracting the world's billionaires.SUJIT JAISWAL/AFP via Getty Images📷

India's Ambani family is hosting a three-day pre-wedding party, attracting the world's elite.
Guests like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Ivanka Trump, led to a surge in private jets at the local airport.
Government officials agreed to set up a passport-control center especially for the event.
📷📷📷The party of the month (year?) is underway in India, and the local airport is pulling out all the stops to cope.The Ambani family is hosting a bash for one of its scions, Anant, to get married to Radhika Merchant.The Ambanis are Asia's richest family, with its patriarch Mukesh Ambani worth $111 https://t.co/fNBV6t6Did has him 11th on its Billionaire Index, thanks to the vast wealth of his company Reliance Industries.Ivanka Trump arrives for the Ambani wedding pre-party in Jamnagar, India. Ajit Solanki/AP
📷He's a touch behind Google founder Sergei Brin and ahead of Mexico's Carlos Slim, once the richest man on earth.This isn't the actual wedding, which is in July. It's a pre-wedding party, and is due to go on for three days in Reliance Township in the Indian state of Gujarat.Joining the fun are Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Fink, Ivanka Trump, and an array of the richest and most famous people in India. Rihanna is performing.That kind of guestlist brings a long trail of private jets and the local airport in Jamnagar isn't built for it.Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan arriving for the party. -
📷An article posted by India's The Hindu newspaper marveled at the 150 planes descending at roughly the same https://t.co/rRFV6BlXn3 said around 50 of them were private jets coming from other countries, meaning passport control for their occupants.If you think that might mean billionaires irately standing in line, like they had to at Davos, you would be https://t.co/qAK2SS8r6i airport official told The Hindu that he'd spoken to the Indian government and laid on some extra capacity for the powerful guests."With the permission of the Government of India, we have set up a Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine (CIQ) centre at the airport. This is meant to facilitate the international visitors landing directly at Jamnagar," DK Singh, the airport's director, said.Everyone, it seems, is determined to make the party an impressive one.

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Ivanka Trump and her shiny sari are attempting to single-handedly revive the glamorous face of Trumpworld at Ambani's pre-wedding bash

Hannah GetahunSave
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---📷

Ivanka Trump is in India for a glitzy wedding event, and in top form.
Trump has in the last year distanced herself from politics, but she's been active on social media.
Now, she's back in the spotlight and rubbing shoulders with some of the world's wealthiest people.
📷📷📷Ivanka Trump sparkled in a flashy sari at the Ambani pre-wedding soiree, bringing a pretty piece of the Trumpworld to the star-studded event.Among many tech leaders, billionaires, and celebrities on Saturday, Trump appears to be squarely back in the spotlight, rubbing shoulders with the world's wealthiest and most well-connected.Posing with her husband and their daughter, Arabella Rose Kushner, Trump rocked a gold and silver sari. They were there for a pre-wedding party to celebrate the upcoming July nuptials of Anant Ambani, the son of Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani.Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump with their daughter ---
📷Also spotted at the festivities were Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. The extensive guest list for the weekend's billionaire bonanza also includes Rihanna, Bill Gates, and Sundar Pichai.Before the 2016 election, Trump was a glamorous daughter of a New York businessman. Then came former President Donald Trump's onslaught of legal troubles and controversies, some of which involved her husband, onetime Trump senior advisor Jared Kushner.Trump herself served as an advisor in the White House. But throughout her father's 2024 campaign, Trump has shied away from making rally appearances or campaigning for her dad.Instead, she's been cozying up to the Kardashians, renouncing future political roles, and partying with the Indian billionaire Ambani family.Trump's also been spotted traveling and reintegrating herself into high society circles. She's taken trips to Greece, gone surfing, and snapped selfies in New York, per her regular Instagram updates.Meanwhile, Trump's brothers have gone in the opposite direction, further entrenching themselves in their father's political sphere. Donald Trump Jr. is podcasting and insulting his father's political rivals, while Eric Trump and his wife Lara remain staunch supporters of Donald Trump's 2024 White House bid.A lawyer for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside of regular business hours.

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Experts highlight co-operation between Vietnam and ASEAN with the RoK

https://t.co/OmTyg5odr3 - 2023 marked an important year for the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Vietnam as it was the first time that the two countries officially implemented the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with the East Asian nation having high hopes on the latter supporting the country in realizing its co-operation goals with ASEAN in 2024.

Talking to the media in Seoul, Prof. Choe Won-gi, head of the Centre for ASEAN - India Studies at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), said that with many important agreements reached during RoK President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to the country in June last year, both sides have opened a new chapter in relations since their diplomatic ties were set up 30 years ago.     

Noting that leaders of the two countries have agreed to prioritize bilateral linkages in the fields of politics and security, the professor stated that co-operation should include maritime security and law enforcement. In the field of economic trade and investment, the two countries need to boost ties to a higher level, covering infrastructure, telecommunications, emerging technology, and energy.

Moving forward, it remains essential for the RoK and the nation to concentrate on more complex industrial sectors and emerging areas of economic collaboration in alignment with the framework of their Indo-Pacific Strategy, he said.

The RoK President has launched a regional strategy called the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI) which seeks to provide fertile ground for the two sides to strengthen co-operation, not only at a bilateral level but also at regional and global levels, he continued.

Regarding RoK-ASEAN co-operation in 2023 and plans for the year ahead, the professor said that the RoK's participation was very positively received by ASEAN member countries, especially at the RoK-ASEAN summit held last year in Jakarta.    

This year marks the 35th anniversary since the establishment of partnership between the RoK and ASEAN. As part of this occasion, the RoK wishes to upgrade ties with the bloc to a comprehensive strategic partnership whilst both sides are in the process of seeking tangible support for the new relationship, such as a plan of actions, he said.
According to information provided by the scholar, the RoK has high expectation for the Vietnamese role as a bridge and its ability to help them to obtain their co-operation goals with ASEAN.

He assessed that the bilateral partnership between the RoK and Vietnam is the most important in their overall co-operation with ASEAN members, explaining that although Vietnam joined ASEAN late, its role and influence in the bloc has been increasingly strengthened. Indeed, the country is an active participant, contributing to shaping the common future of the group. According to him, there are many things that the country can do in the intermediary and co-ordinating role between the RoK and ASEAN.
Commenting on RoK-ASEAN ties and the role of Vietnam, Assistant Professor Beak Yong-hun of the School of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies under the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Dankook University said that the RoK is keen to promote practical and future-oriented links with ASEAN and the Mekong region.
The administration of President Yoon advocates expanding practical collaboration in future-oriented fields, such as digital transformation, climate change response, medical services, and health care, while simultaneously broadening strategic co-operation in areas of mutual interest between the RoK and ASEAN, such as maritime security and the defence industry.

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RoK Ambassador positive on relations with Vietnam
- Despite having been on duty in Vietnam for just over three months, the Republic of Korea (RoK) Ambassador to Vietnam Choi Youngsam is confident about the relationship between the two countries moving forward, saying that the joint relationship has seen constant development in just the past 30 years in a recent interview granted to VOV.

Vietnam and the RoK first established diplomatic relations in December, 1992. Over the past three decades, ties between the two have greatly progressed, reflected in fields such as investment, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges. In 2022, the two countries moved to upgrade their relationship to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership.
According to the diplomat, thanks to the following three factors, the relationship between the two countries have developed well. First is the cultural and historical similarities between the two countries, second is the political-diplomatic similarities and economic complementarity, and finally it is thanks to the best efforts of many generations.

“I think, all of these things combined and led to the incredible growth of our relationship at present,” the Korean diplomat said.

Ambassador Youngsam also expressed joy at seeing Vietnam become the RoK’s third largest trading partner, while the RoK is leading the way in foreign direct investment in Vietnam, with Korean businesses operating effectively throughout 63 Vietnamese provinces and cities.

He also pledged to work harder as part of efforts aimed at moving the RoK to a higher position in terms of trade and investment in Vietnam.

Talking about people-to-people and cross-cultural exchanges between the two countries, the Korean diplomat said that as Korean Ambassador to Vietnam, he will make every effort to open more doors through improving the visa system aiming to create optimal conditions for both nations’ women and young people to hold more exchanges.

“It is also important to expand Korean and Vietnamese educational facilities so that the two countries can better understand each other. In Vietnam alone, there are 40,000 teenagers learning Korean in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and other institutions. We will make further efforts to expand this,” he added.

Ambassador Youngsam also expressed his positive impression of Vietnam by saying that for him the country is a family and his feelings for the nation are getting deeper and deeper.

He said he also loves Vietnamese delicacies such as bun cha (Vietnamese grilled pork with rice vermicelli noodles), cơm hến (rice served with mussel), and banh xeo (crispy Vietnamese pancake), especially all types of Vietnamese coffee.

Regarding the activities of the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam, the Ambassador said the most basic purposes of the centre is to introduce unique traditional Korean culture to the Vietnamese people, whilst the cultural promotion activities are receiving a lot of positive feedback.

In late November, 2023, the Korean Cultural Center launched a broad array of events aimed at promoting the Korean gaming industry, thereby, demonstrating the cultural co-operation between the two nations.

“We are planning many concerts, performances and joint exhibitions through collaboration with outstanding artists from Vietnam and the RoK. We wish to develop the center into an organization that acts as a bridge between the two nations.

On the occasion of the approaching Lunar New Year, known locally as Tet, the RoK Ambassador extended his best wishes to the Vietnamese people with a new year filled with many good things and happiness.

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RoK, Vietnam pledge to consolidate bilateral trust

https://t.co/OmTyg5odr3 - Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and his counterpart from the Republic of Korea (RoK) Cho Tae Yul consented to continue consolidating trust between the two nations through delegation exchanges at high and all levels, and enhancing trade partnership during their telephone talks held on January 26.

Both sides agreed to work hand in hand to accelerate the effective implementation of the action programme to propel the Vietnam-RoK comprehensive strategic partnership forward.
The two diplomats pledged to incentivize Korean firms to expand investment in Vietnam, build more research and development centres, and transfer core and source technologies to Vietnam, while coordinating in taking full advantage of the RoK's Economic Development Co-operation Fund (EDCF) and the Economic Development Promotion Facility (EDPF).

The RoK will help Vietnam develop cultural industries, expand exchanges among youngsters of the two countries, and provide more scholarships for Vietnamese students to study in the RoK.

The two FMs promised to work for the enhancement of cooperation among localities through practical activities such as the Meet Korea programme, while the RoK will continue supporting Vietnam in high quality human resources training and increasing the receiving of Vietnamese workers in the future.

The two sides concurred to continue  boosting closer coordination and offering mutual support at regional and international forums.

FM Son proposed the RoK continue to cooperate closely with Vietnam within the ASEAN-RoK partnership while assisting Vietnam in performing the role of the coordinator for the ASEAN-RoK relations in the 2021-2024 tenure and organizing the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit in 2025.

He also asked for the RoK's support and vision sharing on ensuring maritime and aviation security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflights in the East Sea, maintaining a peaceful and stable environment as well as a legal order, and settling disputes at sea through peaceful measures in accordance with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982.

FM Son used the occasion to congratulate Cho for being appointed as the RoK's FM, affirming that he stays ready to work with FM Cho and bolster cooperation between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs to strengthen the Vietnam-RoK comprehensive strategic partnership.

FM Cho showed his elation at the growth of the ties between the two countries, underscoring that his country places great importance on relations with Vietnam and considers it an important partner in the RoK's external policy in the region.

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Vice President pushes for stronger Vietnam – RoK partnership

https://t.co/OmTyg5odr3 - Vietnam and the Republic of Korea should effectively implement an action programme signed in June 2023 to realise the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, Vice State President Vo Thi Anh Xuan told RoK Ambassador to Vietnam Choi Young-sam.

Receiving the Korean Ambassador in Hanoi on February 19, Xuan expressed her joy that Vietnam – RoK relations are at the best stage of development at present. In particular, she said people-to-people exchanges between the two countries are taking place bustlingly, with about 200,000 expatriates from each country living, studying and working in the other country, including about 80,000 Vietnamese - Korean multicultural families.
At the reception, the Vice President suggested that the two sides increase reciprocal visits to help strengthen political trust and effectively deploy cooperation mechanisms and high-level agreements between the two countries.

She stressed the need for the two sides to enhance security and defense cooperation, including ramping up defense industry cooperation and technology transfer to Vietnam, in accordance with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

She also suggested that the Ambassador assist with simplifying visa procedures for Vietnamese citizens, expanding exchanges between young generations of the two countries, providing scholarships for Vietnamese students, training high-quality human resources and receiving more high-quality Vietnamese workers to work in the RoK in the coming time.

According to the vice president, both Vietnam and the RoK should increase the frequency of direct flights connecting localities of the two countries, thereby contributing to strengthening cooperation between localities and people-to-people exchanges.

She expected that the RoK would support Vietnam in developing its cultural industry, soon establish Vietnamese Cultural Center in Korea, and create more favourable conditions for Vietnamese expatriates to live, work and study in their second homeland.

Ambassador Choi for his part pledged to do his best to promote the Vietnam-RoK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, especially in the fields of economics, trade and investment, and at the same time expand bilateral cooperation into new fields such as minerals, technology transfer, innovation, climate change, new energy and high-quality human resource training.

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