Key milestones in Vietnam-North Korea relations

North Korea was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam (January 31, 1950).

At the invitation of President Truong Tan Sang, Kim Yong Nam, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, paid an official friendly visit to Vietnam from August 5-7.

This is Chairman Kim Yong Nam's second visit to Vietnam following his official visit in July 2011. Prior to that, in January 1998, Chairman Kim Yong Nam visited Vietnam in his capacity as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea.

Vietnam and North Korea share a traditional friendship, a good relationship that was painstakingly built by President Ho Chi Minh and President Kim Il Sung, and has been tested through the ups and downs of history.

President Ho Chi Minh and President Kim Il Sung
at West Lake resort (November 1964)

North Korea was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam (January 31, 1950). The two countries have also consistently maintained good relations through friendly visits by high-ranking Party and State leaders, such as: visits to North Korea by President Ho Chi Minh (July 8-12, 1957); Prime Minister Pham Van Dong (June 1961); Chairman of the State Council Vo Chi Cong attending North Korea's National Day and awarding the Gold Star Order to President Kim Il Sung (September 9, 1988); General Secretary Nong Duc Manh (October 16-18, 2007); Politburo member and Minister of Public Security Le Hong Anh (April 13-16, 2011); Deputy Minister of National Defense Nguyen Chi Vinh (August 15-20, 2011); Central Committee member and Head of the Central Committee's Foreign Affairs Department Hoang Binh Quan (October 18-21, 2011)...

North Korea has also had important visits to Vietnam by high-ranking leaders and officials, such as the visits of Prime Minister Kim Il-sung (November 27 - December 3, 1958); Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly Kim Yong-nam (July 2001); Prime Minister of the Cabinet Kim Yong-il (October 2007); Alternate Member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Central Committee Kim Yong-il (August-October 2010 and June 9-13, 2012)...

Economic cooperation between Vietnam and North Korea remains modest. Vietnam's exports to North Korea reached nearly $16.5 million in 2009. In 2010, through direct and indirect channels, Vietnam exported over $16 million, and in 2011, it reached $18 million. The majority of Vietnamese goods exported to North Korea are consumer products.

In 2008, during a visit to North Korea by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Bui Xuan Khu, the two sides signed five MOUs on cooperation in mining and related technical exchanges. Expert delegations from the oil and gas and agricultural sectors of both countries also exchanged visits to learn from each other's experiences.

Both sides continue to maintain the mechanism of the Intergovernmental Committee on Economic and Scientific and Technical Cooperation, in which the Vietnamese side is chaired by the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade and the North Korean side by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade. It is expected that the two sides will hold the 8th meeting in Pyongyang around the end of August 2012.

The two countries signed many important agreements such as: the Agreement on Cultural Cooperation (November 1957), the Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation (October 1958), the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (1961), and the Agreement on Trade and Maritime Affairs (December 1962).

In the field of culture and education, Vietnam and North Korea have prioritized this since the establishment of diplomatic relations. From the 1960s to the early 1970s, North Korea helped Vietnam train hundreds of students.

Every year, the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture sends an art troupe to North Korea to participate in the April Spring Arts Festival held in Pyongyang. In 2012, the Vietnamese art troupe won four silver medals at the festival. The two sides signed an Agreement on Sports Cooperation (September 2011); and a Plan for Cultural Cooperation for the period 2012-2014 (April 2012).

Recently, the Korean Revolution Museum and the Ho Chi Minh Museum jointly organized a photo exhibition about the country and people of Korea at the Ho Chi Minh Museum to commemorate the 100th anniversary of President Kim Il-sung's birth.

In 2011, the two sides jointly organized a photo exhibition on "President Ho Chi Minh – national liberation hero, outstanding cultural figure" in North Korea.

Chairman Kim Yong Nam's official friendship visit to Vietnam aims to reaffirm the desire to consolidate and strengthen the traditional friendship and cooperation between North Korea and Vietnam, and to promote cooperation between the two countries in many fields.../.

According to (vov.vn) - LT