Vietnam’s top leader plans rare visit to North Korea in October
Vietnam’s Communist Party chief To Lam is expected to travel to North Korea next month, two Vietnamese officials told Reuters, in what would be the first visit by a Vietnamese leader to Pyongyang in nearly two decades.
Preparations for the trip are still underway and no official announcement has been made. Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry and North Korea’s embassy in Hanoi have not commented. One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lam is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the visit, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
The last Vietnamese leader to travel to Pyongyang was Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh in 2007. Before that, the only other such visit was by Vietnam’s founding father Ho Chi Minh in 1957.
Despite maintaining close diplomatic relations, Vietnam and North Korea currently have no formal trade ties, according to the Vietnamese embassy in Pyongyang. The last available trade data dates back to 2016, when Vietnam exported goods worth nearly $3 million to North Korea.
The planned trip comes as the two nations mark 75 years of diplomatic relations. It would also follow Lam’s August visit to South Korea, where he was the first foreign leader hosted by President Lee Jae Myung since Lee took office in June. South Korea is one of Vietnam’s largest economic partners, with Korean investments exceeding $90 billion, led by companies like Samsung Electronics.
North Korea, meanwhile, remains under heavy international sanctions linked to its nuclear weapons program. Kim Jong Un last visited Hanoi in 2019 for a summit with then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
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