North Korea–Vietnam relations
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North Korea–Vietnam relations ( ko, 윁남사회주의공화국-조선민주주의인민공화국 관계; vi, Quan hệ Việt Nam – Cộng hòa Dân chủ Nhân dân Triều Tiên) is a bilateral relationship between Vietnam and North Korea. North Korea and the former country North Vietnam established formal diplomatic relations on January 31, 1950. In July 1957, North Vietnam President Ho Chi Minh visited North Korea; North Korean prime minister
Kim Il Sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...
visited North Vietnam in November–December 1958 and November 1964. In February 1961, the two governments concluded an agreement on scientific and technical cooperation. North Vietnam merged with
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
in 1976 to become the modern country of Vietnam.


History

During the Vietnam War, North Korea provided substantial economic and military aid to North Vietnam (1966: 12.3 million rubles; 1967: 20 million; 1968: 12.5 million; 1969: 12.5 million). In 1968, approximately 2,000 Vietnamese students and trainees received education for free in Korea. As a result of a decision of the
Korean Workers' Party The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party o ...
in October 1966, in early 1967 North Korea sent a fighter squadron to North Vietnam to back up the North Vietnamese 921st and 923rd fighter squadrons defending Hanoi. They stayed through 1968; 200 pilots were reported to have served. In addition, at least two anti-aircraft artillery regiments were sent as well. North Korea also sent weapons, ammunition and two million sets of uniforms to their comrades in North Vietnam. Kim Il Sung is reported to have told his pilots to "fight in the war as if the Vietnamese sky were their own." From 1968, however, relations between Pyongyang and Hanoi started to deteriorate for various reasons. Anxious to keep the United States bogged down in Vietnam, North Korea disagreed with North Vietnam's decision to enter peace negotiations with the U.S., and reacted negatively to the
Paris Peace Accords The Paris Peace Accords, () officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (''Hiệp định về chấm dứt chiến tranh, lập lại hòa bình ở Việt Nam''), was a peace treaty signed on January 27, 1 ...
. During the Cambodian Civil War, North Korea approved the Chinese plan to create a "united front of the five revolutionary Asian countries" (China, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia), whereas North Vietnam rejected it on the grounds that such a front would exclude the Soviet Union and challenge Vietnamese dominance in Indochina. Around this time, the Vietnam War came to an end. The government of North Vietnam, unlike that of North Korea, succeeded in reunifying the whole country by 1975. During the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, the North Korean leadership condemned the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, refused to recognize the People's Republic of Kampuchea, and allowed the exiled
Norodom Sihanouk Norodom Sihanouk (; km, នរោត្តម សីហនុ, ; 31 October 192215 October 2012) was a Cambodian statesman, Sangkum and FUNCINPEC politician, Norodom Sihanouk filmography, film director, and composer who led Cambodia in vari ...
to stay in Korea. North Korea also provided supports for the
Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...
during that time, sided with China during the Sino-Vietnamese War, and also demanded Vietnam to be removed from the Non-Aligned Movement. According to historian Balazs Szalontai, Vietnam came to resent what it saw as North Korea's self-centred behaviour, and the two governments became rivals rather than friends. During the same time,
Pol Pot Pol Pot; (born Saloth Sâr;; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian revolutionary, dictator, and politician who ruled Cambodia as Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea between 1976 and 1979. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist a ...
,
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea ( km, អគ្គលេខាធិការគណៈកម្មាធិការមជ្ឈិមបក្សកុម្មុយនីស្តកម្ព ...
and the leader of
Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...
, managed to have a visit to North Korea, one of only two foreign trips led by Pol Pot, further strained North Korean–Vietnamese relations, as Pol Pot was a recognized enemy of Vietnam.


Early 2000s

In the 1990s and 2000s, North Korean-Vietnamese relations declined even more due to investment and trade disputes. The former Vietnamese ambassador to South Korea is a graduate of North Korea's Kim Il Sung University. The son of a former staff member in the Vietnamese embassy in Pyongyang, who also attended Kim Il Sung University between 1998 and 2002, gave an interview in 2004 with South Korean newspaper '' The Chosun Ilbo'' about the experiences he had while living there. While its giant neighbor China is an obvious example of economic reform to follow, experts say Vietnam is seen as a far better model by North Korea.


Recent events

Kim Jong Un came to Vietnam on 26 February 2019 on a 60-hour train ride to attend the Hanoi Summit with
U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Donald Trump. He was greatly welcomed by the Vietnamese officials and made a visit to the North Korean Embassy in Hanoi. On March 1 and 2, Kim Jong Un made an official visit to Vietnam, 60 years after his grandfather's first visit to the country. He met the Vietnamese President and
General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
Nguyễn Phú Trọng, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and National Assembly Chairwoman
Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân (born 12 April 1954, in Bến Tre Province) is a Vietnamese economist and politician. She is the first woman in Vietnamese history to head the country's legislature, serving as the eleventh Chair of the National Assemb ...
. Both countries agreed on tightening diplomatic ties and economy, which was damaged by previous North Korean support to the
Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...
.


See also

* Koreans in Vietnam * South Korea–Vietnam relations *
Vietnamese people in Korea Vietnamese people in Korea, also known as Vietnamese Koreans, have a history dating back to the 12th century. After the division of Korea and the Korean War, ethnic Vietnamese had various contacts with both North and South Korea. They are Vietname ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:North Korea-Vietnam relations Vietnam Bilateral relations of Vietnam Korea–Vietnam relations