Vietnam, N Korea to deepen defense ties

ON RIGHT TRACK: There have been positive results in exchanges of delegations, political work, and education and training, Vietnam’s deputy defense minister said

Vietnam and North Korea will deepen their defense cooperation after some recent “positive results,” Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence said after talks between the countries’ deputy ministers of defense in Hanoi this week.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defense Nguyen Truong Thang held talks on Thursday with his North Korean counterpart, Ryo Chol-ung, who was part of a visiting defense delegation, the ministry said in a statement issued late on Thursday.

“Within the overall framework of the traditional friendship between Vietnam and the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea], defence cooperation has always been a key area receiving attention and active promotion from the Party, State, and military leadership of both countries,” the statement cited Thang as saying, referring to North Korea by its official name.

A delegation from North Korea’s Ministry of Defense prepares to leave Pyongyang for Vietnam on Tuesday.

Photo: KCNA via Reuters

There had been “positive results” in areas including exchanges of delegations, party and political work, and education and training, he said, calling on both sides to implement a defense cooperation letter of intent signed last year.

Ryo spoke highly of the traditional ties between the two ruling parties, the two states and the two armed forces, and discussed a number of matters related to bilateral defense cooperation, according to the statement.

Vietnam and North Korea have maintained diplomatic ties dating back to the Cold War, and are among the world’s five communist-ruled countries besides China, Cuba and Laos.

Last month, Vietnam said it would build a memorial and renovate a cemetery dedicated to North Korean servicemen killed fighting during the Vietnam War.

Meanwhile, North Korea yesterday said South Korea would become a “decisive target” for collective retaliation if it served as a central hub in a US-led collective defense system, state media KCNA reported.

Washington is turning its ally South Korea into a base for pursuing global hegemony and using it as a platform to deploy first in overseas conflicts, Institute for Enemy State Studies department director Kang Chol-su said in a KCNA commentary.

Kang cited remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea portraying South Korea as a key center of collective defense, and criticized joint drills and US deployments.

Pyongyang had prepared countermeasures and would ruthlessly crush challenges to its security, the commentary said.

US Forces Korea did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The US stations about 28,500 military personnel in South Korea to help deter aggression from North Korea.