Chairman Kim Jong-un: Visit to Vietnam opens “a new page” in friendly relations

On the evening of March 1, General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong held a solemn reception to welcome Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong Un and the high-ranking delegation of the Party and State of Korea on their official friendship visit to Vietnam.

Speaking at the reception, Chairman Kim Jong-un said that this visit to Vietnam is natural and ethical, and affirmed the unified and steadfast stance of the Party, State and people of Korea to continue inheriting and developing the friendly and cooperative relationship between the two Parties and States of Korea and Vietnam.

Speaking at the reception, General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong warmly welcomed Chairman Kim Jong-un and the high-ranking delegation of North Korea on their official friendship visit to Vietnam, saying that the first visit to Vietnam by the highest-ranking leader of the Party and State of North Korea after 55 years since President Kim Il-sung's visit to Vietnam in 1964 is a new milestone of important significance in the history of relations between the two Parties and two countries, demonstrating the stance of the Party and Government of North Korea that attaches importance to the traditional friendship with Vietnam.

General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong also said that Chairman Kim Jong-un's visit to Vietnam this time is even more meaningful as the two countries are looking towards the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in January 2020.

The traditional friendship between the two Parties, two countries and two peoples, personally built and nurtured by President Ho Chi Minh and President Kim Il Sung, has overcome many challenges and has been continuously preserved, inherited and promoted by generations of leaders and people of the two countries.

Through this visit to Vietnam by Chairman Kim Jong-un, with the attention of the leaders and people of the two countries, we have enough basis to firmly believe that the good traditional friendship will continue to be strengthened and further developed for the benefit of the people of the two countries, for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

When visiting North Korea in 1957, President Ho Chi Minh once said, “Vietnam and North Korea, though far apart, are very close in heart. Though thousands of miles apart, they are bound together like a close brotherhood.”

Chairman Kim Jong-un expressed his sincere thanks to General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong for paying special attention to the visit, as well as for the warm and thoughtful welcome given to the high-ranking delegation of the DPRK; emphasizing that this visit to Vietnam is in the spirit of continuing the traditional friendship between the DPRK and Vietnam as well as developing the friendly relations between the two countries to a new height in accordance with the requirements of the new era, in the context of the volatile world political situation.

“In history, Korean and Vietnamese revolutionaries have shared the same aspirations in the struggle for independence, national reunification and the victory of socialism, and have become shining examples of comradely friendship. President Kim Il Sung and President Ho Chi Minh, with their sincere comradeship and noble morality, sowed the roots of traditional friendship between the two Parties and two States. I think that my visit to Vietnam this time is also followed by the sacred souls of the two great leaders as well as the souls of the martyrs who sacrificed to inscribe this historic friendship. This visit is natural and moral. And this will also be a historic visit that begins a mission that will continue forever for future generations,” said President Kim Jong-un.

Chairman Kim Jong-un said that at the talks with General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong, the two sides affirmed the common will to continue the noble aspirations of the leaders of the two countries, to further consolidate and develop the friendly and cooperative relationship between the DPRK and Vietnam to bring happiness and a bright future to the people of the two countries; and expressed confidence in the vitality and bright future of the friendly and cooperative relationship between the two Parties and two countries that President Kim Il-sung and President Ho Chi Minh had worked hard to cultivate.

Chairman Kim Jong-un affirmed that the unified and steadfast stance of the Party, State and people of the DPRK is to continue inheriting and developing the friendly and cooperative relations between the two Parties and the two States, believing that this visit will be an important turning point opening a new page in the development of the DPRK-Vietnam friendly relations./.