North Korea, Vietnam Pledge to Promote Cooperation

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- North Korea and Vietnam vowed to further boost their cooperation and friendship on the 60th anniversary of their establishment ofbilateral diplomatic ties, Pyongyang's media said on Feb. 1.

According to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korean leader
Kim Jong-il on Jan. 31 sent a congratulatory message to Nong Duc Manh, general
secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, to mark the
anniversary.
"The bilateral relations are precious as they were provided personally by
President Kim Il-sung and respected President Ho Chi Minh of the Vietnamese
people," Kim was quoted as saying. "(I am) convinced the friendly and cooperative
relations will be further developed in the future."
Other senior officials of the two countries, including Kim Yong-nam, president of
the Presidium of the North's Supreme People's Assembly, exchanged congratulatory
messages, stressing the need for strengthened mutual friendship and cooperation.
In addition, the Vietnamese government organized a rally in Hanoi on Jan. 28 in
commemoration of the anniversary, while Pyongyang held a photo exhibition and a
film screening session two days earlier.
Le Van Cu, Vietnamese ambassador to North Korea, hosted a reception on Jan. 28 on
the occasion of the anniversary, with Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun and other
senior officials attending, according to North Korean media.
After establishing diplomatic relations in 1950, North Korea and Vietnam signed
an agreement on military and economic aid in 1967. But their relations began to
worsen following Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia in 1979 and became further
alienated after South Korea set up diplomatic ties with Vietnam in 1992.
Their relations were restored following Kim Yong-nam's visit to Vietnam in 2001
and a reciprocal visit by the Vietnamese president to Pyongyang a year later.