HANOI, April 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Lee Han Dong arrived here Tuesday morning for the second phase of his five-day official visit to Vietnam.

　　Lee's visit, which is being made at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, is the second visit by a RoK prime minister since the two countries set up diplomatic relations in December 1992.

　　The visit is aimed at further boosting the increasingly developing cooperation between the two countries.

　　Lee had paid a two-day visit to Ho Chi Minh City, working with municipal authorities there, before arriving in the Vietnamese capital.

　　Lee Han Dong is scheduled to hold talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Phan Van Khai later on Tuesday and meet with Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong here on Wednesday.

　　To date, the South Korean government has assisted Vietnam with several preferential credit programs from its Development Fund totalling 148 million U.S. dollars, plus non-refundable aid valuedat 27 million U.S. dollars, targeting health care, education and research.

　　By the end of February, 2002, the RoK had 363 investment projects registered in Vietnam with a total of 3.3 billion U.S. dollars in capital, making RoK the fourth largest foreign investorin Vietnam.