Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News - April 24

Read what is in the news in Vietnam today:

Politics

-- President of the Republic of Korea Lee Jae Myung and his spouse took a relaxing stroll around Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi on Thursday night.

-- South Korea will consider simplifying procedures for issuing visas to Vietnamese citizens, President Lee told a meeting with Chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly Tran Thanh Man on Thursday.

-- Ngo Phuong Ly, spouse of Party General Secretary and State President To Lam, and Kim Hae Kyung, spouse of President Lee, visited the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi on Thursday, watching a water puppetry performance by artists from the Vietnam Puppetry Theater.

-- The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been coordinating with relevant ministries and shipowners, and working with the competent authorities of Iran on the necessary technical requirements to ensure that Vietnamese cargo vessels can safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible, spokesperson for the ministry Pham Thu Hang told a press briefing in Hanoi on Thursday.

Society

-- Hanoi will offer free bus and metro rides to residents and tourists during the Hung Kings’ Commemoration Day break and the Reunification Day and International Workers' Day holiday.

-- Two ninth-grade students in Hiep Duc Commune, Da Nang City, central Vietnam drowned on Thursday afternoon while swimming in a local river, according to local authorities.

Ho Chi Minh City

-- Ho Chi Minh City plans to spend VND40 billion (US$1.5 million) renovating and beautifying Vung Tau Beach in Vung Tau Ward this year.

-- The southern metropolis is studying plans to invest in underground and above-ground parking facilities at 23/9 Park, Cho Lon, and Tan Phu in order to ease traffic congestion.

-- The Vietnam Banh Mi Festival 2026 kicked off at Le Van Tam Park in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday afternoon, with 160 booths, drawing crowds of residents and tourists.

Economy

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and President Lee attended a roundtable on Vietnam-South Korea economic, trade, and investment cooperation, as part of the Vietnam-South Korea Economic Forum, in Hanoi on Thursday.

The event gathered leaders from 26 leading Vietnamese and Korean corporations active in energy, finance, technology, electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, construction, infrastructure, trade, tourism, and aviation.