Responding to an interview about General Secretary To Lam's visit, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu said: "This visit has a very special meaning, being Comrade To Lam's first visit to North Korea as General Secretary and the first State visit of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam to North Korea in 18 years".
The visit took place on the occasion of the two countries celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (1950 - 2025) and the Vietnam - North Korea Friendship Year 2025, vividly demonstrating the two Parties and States' attachment to the traditional friendship between Vietnam and North Korea.
The Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs pointed out that General Secretary To Lam's State visit to North Korea has 3 very important meanings and purposes:
First of all, this visit continues to affirm Vietnam's consistent foreign policy of attaching importance to relations with traditional friends.
Secondly, the visit is a very important occasion for the top leaders of the two Parties and countries to discuss and agree on strategic orientations to inherit and promote the traditional friendship between the two Parties and the two countries, and enhance bilateral cooperation in the new period.
Third, as an active and responsible member of the international community, with this visit, Vietnam continues to show consistent support for trends, efforts and contributions to peace, stability, cooperation and development on the Korean Peninsula, in the region and in the world.
Permanent Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu noted that in recent years, the Vietnam - North Korea relationship has continued to develop stably and firmly and achieved some encouraging and outstanding results.
The two sides maintained exchanges of delegations at high and all levels, with a special highlight being the official friendly visit to Vietnam by North Korean President Kim Jong Un in March 2019.
The two sides signed a number of bilateral cooperation agreements in the fields of culture, health, civil aviation, judicial cooperation, investment incentives and protection, and two-time tax avoidance; maintained a number of dialogue and cooperation mechanisms such as the Deputy Foreign Minister's Political Consultation, the Intergovernmental Committee on economic - trade, scientific - technical cooperation on the basis of suitability with the needs of each country as well as international regulations.
Cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges are a highlight in the friendly relations between the two countries in diverse forms such as exchanging art troupes, culture, sports exchanges, participating in the annual Spring Arts Festival, and Pyongyang International Film Festivals. Exchange activities between people-to-people organizations are maintained and expanded, especially activities within the framework of the Vietnam - North Korea Friendship Year 2025 on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
"With the above good cooperation results and goodwill and efforts of both sides, we believe that this historic visit will create new results for the relationship between the two countries. This is also a very important occasion for both sides to be able to share in a practical, sincere and frank way the international and regional situation of mutual concern, making responsible and constructive contributions to promoting dialogue, maintaining peace, cooperation and development on the Korean Peninsula, in the region and in the world" - Permanent Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu said.
