Vietnam and North Korea will deepen their defence cooperation after some recent “positive results”, Vietnam’s defence ministry said after talks between the countries’ deputy defence ministers in Hanoi this week.
– Nguyen Truong Thang, Vietnam’s deputy defence minister, held talks on Thursday with his North Korean counterpart, Ryo Chol Ung, who was part of a visiting defence delegation, the ministry said in a statement issued late on Thursday.
- “Within the overall framework of the traditional friendship between Vietnam and the DPRK (North Korea), defence cooperation has always been a key area receiving attention and active promotion from the Party, State, and military leadership of both countries,” the statement cited Thang as saying.
- He said there had been “positive results” in areas including exchanges of delegations, party and political work, and education and training, and called on both sides to implement a defence cooperation letter of intent signed in 2025.
- Ryo Chol Ung spoke highly of the traditional ties between the two ruling parties, the two states and the two armed forces, and discussed a number of matters related to bilateral defence cooperation, according to the statement.
- Vietnam and North Korea have maintained diplomatic ties dating back to the Cold War, and are among the world’s five communist-ruled countries besides China, Cuba and Laos.
- Last month, Vietnam said it would build a memorial and renovate a cemetery dedicated to North Korean servicemen killed fighting during the Vietnam War.