Key facts
- North Korea's Vice Defense Minister Ryo Chol Ung is visiting Vietnam.
- North Korea and Vietnam signed cooperation agreements in defense, foreign affairs, and health.
- Vietnam and North Korea agreed to enhance cooperation in military medicine, border defense, and defense industry.
- Vietnam invited North Korea to attend its International Defense Expo in December.
A delegation from North Korea's Ministry of Defense, led by Vice Defense Minister Ryo Chol Ung, has departed Pyongyang for Vietnam to discuss cooperation. The visit, reported by North Korean state media KCNA, follows a rare trip by Vietnam's deputy defense minister to Pyongyang in September. During that visit, Vietnam's Senior Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien met with his North Korean counterpart, Lt. Gen. Kim Min Sop, and agreed to strengthen cooperation in various defense-related fields, including military medicine, border defense, and the defense industry. Vietnam also extended an invitation for North Korea to attend its International Defense Expo in December. Analysts have warned that closer ties with North Korea could potentially harm Vietnam's relations with the US and South Korea, given North Korea's ongoing nuclear weapons program and UN sanctions. Despite these concerns, Vietnam and North Korea, which share a long history of friendship dating back to the Vietnam War, have signed multiple cooperation agreements across defense, foreign affairs, and health ministries.