Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho will depart for Vietnam on Thursday for bilateral talks and a multilateral business forum with the Southeast Asian partners in the Mekong region, the foreign ministry said.

During the three-day trip, Lee will attend the South Korea-Mekong Business Forum, an annual conference consisting of Korea and the five countries near the Mekong River -- Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, the ministry said in a release.

The meeting will be held via video link to connect officials from the four countries besides Vietnam.

In Hanoi, Lee will also meet with senior government officials to discuss joint efforts to enhance bilateral cooperation in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, including ways to help small and midsized enterprises continue their businesses abroad despite border controls, the ministry said.

In late 2019, Seoul hosted the first summit of the leaders of South Korea and the Mekong countries in the southern port city of Busan. (Yonhap)