Vietnam’s foreign minister visits North Korea

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung is visiting North Korea as a special envoy of President To Lam, state-run media reported Wednesday.

Trung arrived in the capital Pyongyang on Tuesday with a delegation and was welcomed at the airport by North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Pak Sang-gil and Vietnam’s ambassador to North Korea, Le Ba Vinh, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

KCNA did not share further details or the purpose of the visit, though analysts expect Trung to brief North Korean officials on recent political developments in the region.

The trip also follows South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s visit to Vietnam last month, fueling speculation that Hanoi could seek a broader diplomatic role in regional affairs, including inter-Korean relations, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Ties between Vietnam and North Korea are improving following To Lam’s trip to Pyongyang in October last year — the first visit by a top Vietnamese leader to North Korea in 18 years — when he held summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and participated in celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea.