Strong momentum to promote Vietnam-North Korea relations to new heights

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation have just successfully concluded a State visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and attended the 80th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea, at the invitation of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong Un.

STRONG MOMENTUM TO PROMOTE VIETNAM-DPRK RELATIONS TO NEW HEIGHTS

E-Magazine | Nhandan.vn

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation have just successfully concluded a State visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and attended the 80th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea, at the invitation of General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong Un.

As the first visit to North Korea by a General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam in 18 years, General Secretary To Lam's visit was a great success, contributing to strengthening political trust and creating a strong driving force to promote relations between the two Parties and two countries to new heights.

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Fostering a tradition of friendship

During General Secretary To Lam 's State visit to North Korea from October 9 to 11, the leaders and people of North Korea gave the General Secretary and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation a warm welcome and affection, clearly demonstrating the traditional friendship and extensive cooperation between the two Parties and two countries.

General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong Un welcomes General Secretary To Lam. (Photo: VNA)

General Secretary To Lam had a successful high-level meeting with General Secretary and State Chairman Kim Jong Un; attended the military parade and solemn reception to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea; laid flowers in memory of North Korean leaders, and visited a number of cultural and historical establishments. The General Secretary and the delegation attended the inauguration ceremony of the President Ho Chi Minh Monument and visited the Vietnamese Embassy in North Korea...

2025 was chosen as the "Vietnam-DPRK Friendship Year" to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (January 31, 1950 - January 31, 2025), coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea (October 10, 1945 - October 10, 2025). Marking a special milestone in the relationship between the two countries, General Secretary To Lam's visit continues to affirm the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization, diversification, proactiveness, active international integration comprehensively, deeply and effectively; strengthen relations with traditional friends, including DPRK; affirm that Vietnam always attaches importance to the traditional friendship with DPRK, wishes to strengthen cooperation between the two Parties and two countries, support DPRK's development, contribute to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

General Secretary To Lam held talks with General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong Un. (Photo: VNA)

At the talks in a sincere, friendly and open atmosphere, General Secretary To Lam and General Secretary and State President Kim Jong Un reviewed and expressed their appreciation for the traditional friendship between the two Parties and countries, which was personally built by President Ho Chi Minh and President Kim Il Sung, and cultivated, inherited and promoted by generations of leaders of the two countries, while recalling the tradition of mutual support and assistance between the two countries during the arduous revolutionary years.

Highlighting the outstanding achievements in the construction and development of the DPRK over the past 80 years under the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea, General Secretary To Lam expressed his belief that, with the motto of "taking the people as the root", "unity" and "self-reliance", DPRK will complete the tasks and goals set by the Workers' Party of Korea, opening a new era of comprehensive national revival.

General Secretary To Lam attends the ceremony to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea. (Photo: VNA)

Chairman Kim Jong Un stressed that during the period when the Vietnamese people fought against foreign invaders, the Korean people considered this their own resistance and supported the Vietnamese people selflessly and without calculation; at the same time, he affirmed that the DPRK is grateful for and remembers the valuable support that the Party, State and people of Vietnam have given to the DPRK in the process of building and defending the country.

Congratulating Vietnam on its great achievements over the past 80 years, General Secretary and State President Kim Jong Un expressed his belief that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, headed by General Secretary To Lam, Vietnam will soon successfully achieve its development goals, successfully organize the 14th National Party Congress and continue to achieve even greater achievements in developing the socialist country.

Art program to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang, October 9, 2025. (Photo: THX/TTXVN)

The two leaders agreed on strategic orientations to inherit and promote the traditional friendship between the two Parties and two countries, together promoting the Vietnam-DPRK relationship to enter a new stage of development that is more practical and effective, contributing to realizing the development goals of each country, meeting the aspirations and wishes of the people of the two countries, and contributing to peace, stability and development of the region and the world.

Within the framework of the State visit to North Korea and attendance at the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea by General Secretary To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, a signing ceremony of bilateral cooperation documents between Vietnam and North Korea took place.

Signing ceremony of the Letter of Intent between the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense and the DPRK Ministry of National Defense on defense cooperation. (Photo: VNA)

Accordingly, the cooperation documents include: Cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; Letter of Intent between the Ministry of National Defense of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Ministry of National Defense of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on defense cooperation; Cooperation agreement between the Vietnam News Agency and the Korean Central News Agency; Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in health and medical science between the Ministry of Health of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Ministry of Public Health of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; Memorandum of Understanding between the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of Commerce of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Also within the framework of the visit, General Secretary To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation attended the inauguration ceremony of the statue of President Ho Chi Minh in the premises of the Vietnamese Embassy in North Korea. In 1957, President Ho Chi Minh paid an official friendship visit to North Korea and during this visit, President Ho Chi Minh affirmed that although Vietnam and North Korea are far apart, their hearts are very close, and though they are thousands of miles apart, they are attached to each other like a close brotherhood.

General Secretary To Lam and Comrade Jo Yong Won, member of the Politburo Standing Committee, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Head of the Central Organizing Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, attended the inauguration ceremony of the statue of President Ho Chi Minh in the premises of the Vietnamese Embassy in North Korea. (Photo: VNA)

On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation also visited Kieng Sang Kindergarten and the class named after President Ho Chi Minh. Kieng Sang Kindergarten was established in 1954. Initially, the school was just a regular educational facility, but since the end of 1970, it has been converted into a music training facility for gifted children.

Kieng Sang Kindergarten has a close relationship with the Vietnam-North Korea Friendship Kindergarten, a meaningful gift that the North Korean Government gave to the Vietnamese people on March 8, 1978.

General Secretary To Lam visits a class named after President Ho Chi Minh. (Photo: VNA)

Visiting the Vietnamese Embassy in North Korea, the General Secretary shared the difficulties; praised and appreciated the efforts of the staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in North Korea who have promoted the spirit of solidarity, cohesion, overcoming difficulties, successfully completing the foreign affairs tasks assigned by the Party and State, contributing to promoting the traditional friendship between the two countries to develop with many new marks.

The General Secretary requested all officials and staff of the Embassy in North Korea to continue to promote the role of a bridge between the two countries, promote the two sides to maintain and strengthen cooperation in areas suitable to the interests of each country, the laws and regulations of each country as well as international, beneficial to maintaining peace and development in the region; promote exchange activities suitable to the needs of both sides, exchanges between the people of the two countries...

General Secretary To Lam visits Wanjingtai - the hometown of President Kim Il-sung. (Photo: VNA)

General Secretary To Lam presents a statue of President Ho Chi Minh and books to the Vietnamese Embassy in North Korea. (Photo: VNA)

General Secretary To Lam with officials and staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in North Korea. (Photo: VNA)

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Expanding relationships with partners

On the occasion of attending the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea, General Secretary To Lam met with Politburo Standing Committee member and Premier of the State Council of China Li Qiang.

In an atmosphere of friendship, sincerity, trust and openness, the two sides expressed their delight at the positive development of the relationship between the two Parties and the two countries in recent times, notably the increasingly consolidated political trust, close high-level contacts; enhanced security and defense cooperation; remarkable growth in economic, trade, investment and tourism cooperation; strong implementation of strategic development connections, especially railway connections; vibrant local cooperation and people-to-people exchanges; and closer multilateral coordination.

General Secretary To Lam hopes that Vietnam and China will continue to promote the development of the relationship between the two Parties and countries to become deeper and more substantial; suggest that both sides enhance political trust to spread and comprehensively lead all areas of cooperation, well organize the 17th meeting of the Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation; and promote the pivotal role of key areas of diplomacy, defense, and public security.

General Secretary To Lam meets with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang. (Photo: VNA)

The General Secretary hopes that both sides will continue to make efforts to create breakthroughs and truly transform cooperation areas, from commitments to results, from potential to reality, especially in expanding the import of Vietnamese goods, agricultural and aquatic products, increasing electricity exports to Vietnam, giving high priority to soon completing three standard gauge railway lines connecting the two countries; enhancing high-quality investment cooperation associated with technology transfer and human resource training; promoting science and technology cooperation to become a new bright spot of cooperation.

With the desire to foster friendship, understanding and mutual trust between the two peoples, General Secretary To Lam suggested that both sides support social organizations and mass organizations to increase exchanges; actively promote the Vietnam-China friendship and the development achievements of each country; and request China to strongly support in the field of education, especially training high-quality human resources, and promote tourism cooperation. The General Secretary also suggested that both sides properly handle maritime issues, in accordance with the common perception of the two countries' top leaders and international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Chinese Premier Li Qiang highly appreciated General Secretary To Lam's proposals on directions and measures to promote relations in the coming time; affirmed that the leaders of the Chinese Party and State attach great importance to the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership and the Community of Shared Future, which has strategic significance with Vietnam, and always consider this a priority direction in China's neighborly diplomacy; emphasized that in the coming time, the two sides need to accelerate the concretization and effective implementation of high-level agreements and common perceptions, strengthen political trust, improve the quality and effectiveness of cooperation in all fields, consolidate the foundation of public opinion, better control and handle disagreements at sea, and bring the relationship between the two Parties and the two countries to increasingly develop in depth, substance and sustainability.

General Secretary To Lam and Chairman of the United Russia Party and Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev. (Photo: VNA)

At the meeting between General Secretary To Lam and Chairman of the United Russia Party and Vice Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, the two sides emphasized that the two Parties, two countries and two peoples always attach importance to the traditional friendship and the Vietnam-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

General Secretary To Lam affirmed that the Communist Party of Vietnam always attaches importance to the cooperative relationship with the United Russia Party, considering it a foundation for enhancing political trust and promoting bilateral cooperation; emphasizing that Vietnam consistently regards Russia as an important strategic partner, wishing to expand cooperation with Russia in key areas such as politics, security-defense, energy-oil and gas, science-technology, education-training, culture-humanities. The two sides agreed to continue promoting the cooperation channel between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the United Russia Party.

The two leaders were pleased to note that, based on recent meetings between high-ranking leaders of the two countries, the two sides are actively implementing agreements and commitments to cooperation in various fields; agreed to continue to strengthen political trust, increase delegation exchanges at all levels, especially at the high level; effectively implement the Master Plan on Vietnam-Russia cooperation until 2030 and agreements reached in recent times; promote economic-trade and investment cooperation; remove barriers and further open markets for each other's export products; continue to create conditions for businesses of the two countries to strengthen cooperation in areas such as oil and gas-energy, science and technology; strengthen security and defense cooperation; expand local cooperation and transportation; Improve the effectiveness of cooperation in education and training, health care, culture, sports, and tourism; create favorable conditions for people of the two countries to visit each other; promote cooperation in energy, oil and gas, and nuclear power; and promote labor cooperation, including agricultural labor.

Marking a new milestone in the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, the State visit to the DPRK and attendance at the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea by General Secretary To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation was a great success, contributing significantly to continuing to foster the tradition of friendship, enhancing understanding, consolidating political trust and creating a strong driving force to promote the relationship between the two Parties and the two countries to new heights.

Publication date: October 11, 2025

Directed by: Chu Hong Thang - Pham Truong Son

Content: Son Ninh - Thanh The

Presented by: Nha Nam

Source: https://nhandan.vn/special/dong-luc-quan-he-viet-nam-trieu-tien/index.html