The official friendly visit to Vietnam by President of the Presidium
of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea (DPRK) Kim Yong Nam, from August 5-7 aims to affirm the wish to
promote traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between
Vietnam and the DPRK.
The visit is being made at
the invitation of President Truong Tan Sang. This is the second visit of
President Kim Yong Nam following his first official visit to
Vietnam in July 2011. Earlier, he visited Vietnam in January 1998
as DPRK Cabinet Vice Premier and Foreign Minister.
The DPRK was one of the first countries that established diplomatic ties
with Vietnam (January 31, 1950). The two countries have maintained
good relations through friendly visits by the two countries’ Party and
State leaders, including Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh (October
16-18, 2007), Politburo member and Minister of Public Security Le Hong
Anh (April 13-16, 2011), Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh (August
15-20, 2011), member of the Party Central Committee and Head of the
Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations Hoang Binh
Quan (October 18-21, 2011), DPRK Cabinet Premier Kim Yong Il
(October 2007) and alternative member of the Politburo and Secretary of
the Korean Worker’s Party Central Committee Kim Yong II (June 9-13,
2012).
Economic cooperation between Vietnam and
the DPRK remains modest with Vietnam ’s export revenues to the DPRK
rising slightly from 16.5 million USD in 2009 to 18 million USD in 2011.
Vietnam exports mainly consumer goods to the DPRK. In 2008, the two
countries signed five memoranda of understanding on mining cooperation
and technical exchange. The two countries sent delegations from the oil,
gas and agricultural sectors to learn from each other’s experiences.
The Vietnamese-DPRK Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic,
Scientific and Technological Cooperation also maintain regular
activities with the eighth session scheduled to be held in Pyongyang
in late August.
Both countries have paid attention
to culture and education cooperation since the 1960s and 70s. The DPRK
has helped train hundreds of Vietnamese students. The Vietnamese
Ministry of Culture and Information sends its troupe to the April Spring
Friendship Art Festival in Pyongyang each year and Vietnam won
four silvers from this year’s festival.
Vietnam
and the DPRK signed a sports and physical training cooperation
agreement in September 2011 and a cultural cooperation plan for the
2012-2014 period in April.
Last year, the two countries coordinated in organising a photo exhibition of President Ho Chi Minh in the DPRK.
The DPRK Revolutionary Museum and the Ho Chi Minh Museum have jointly
hosted a photo exhibition on the DPRK and its people at the Ho Chi Minh
Museum on the occasion of the 100 th birth anniversary of President Kim
Il Sung.-VNA