N. Korea's Kim, Vietnamese leader discuss expanding bilateral cooperation: KCNA

▲ This image from the Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 10, 2025, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) toasting with To Lam, chief of Vietnam's Communist Party, during their talks in Pyongyang on Oct. 9. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

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N. Korea's Kim, Vietnamese leader discuss expanding bilateral cooperation: KCNA

SEOUL, Oct. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has held talks with Vietnamese head of state To Lam and exchanged views on expanding the long-standing cooperative relations between their countries, state media reported Friday.

The meeting took place in Pyongyang the previous day, as To Lam, chief of Vietnam's Communist Party, visited North Korea to attend celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kim noted that the Vietnamese leader's visit "boosts the friendly ties between the two parties and the two peoples and adds significance to the 80th founding anniversary."

Lam expressed his country's willingness to "further consolidate the traditional relations of friendship" with North Korea and develop them to a new level, according to the KCNA.

"There was an open-minded exchange of views on the issues arising in positively promoting the cause of building socialism in the DPRK and Vietnam and expanding the long-standing cooperative relations ... as required by the times and other issues of mutual concern," the KCNA said. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.

Also on Thursday, Kim hosted a reception welcoming Lam's visit, the North said.

The Vietnamese leader arrived in Pyongyang the previous day for a three-day trip through Saturday, marking the first trip by a top Vietnamese leader to North Korea since then Communist Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh's trip in 2007.

The two countries are celebrating 2025 as the year of friendship, marking the 75th anniversary of their formal diplomatic relations.

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