Hanoi - North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong Il began a
visit to Vietnam on Saturday to study the fellow communist nation's
economic transformation
Kim was welcomed in Hanoi on Saturday by his Vietnamese
counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung in a lavish military ceremony followed by
talks.
The visit by Kim - who is not related to North Korean leader Kim
Jong Il - is part of a South-east Asian tour by the prime minister of
the isolated communist state.
In a prepared statement, Kim expressed ideological solidarity with
'comrade' Dung. Vietnam and North Korea are two of the five last
communist-run countries in the world.
'We are happy to have the opportunity to witness the successes
achieved by the government and people of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam in their efforts to build a prosperous country,' Kim said in
his statement.
While both countries are run by communist parties, Vietnam has
been administering free-market reforms for the past 20 years while
North Korea's command economy has kept the country in desperate
poverty.
Kim is scheduled to visit a coalmine and a port in northern
Vietnam, as well as special export zones in Ho Chi Minh City.
Pham Hung Vinh, in charge of Korean economic affairs for Vietnam's
Ministry of Planning and Investment, said he had been told Kim wanted
to discuss Vietnam's economic reforms, known as 'doi moi,' or
renewal.
'We received a request to make arrangements for Minister of
Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc to brief the North Korean
premier and his delegation about the economic development situation
of Vietnam,' Vinh said.
However, he added that he could not say whether North Korea might
be considering similar reform measures to ease desperate poverty.
'We all know that they, North Korea, are very careful and reserved
about reforms,' Vinh said.
It was unclear whether the subject of North Korea's nuclear
programme would be discussed during the visit.
Kim's visit follows this month's trip by Vietnamese Communist
Party leader, Nong Duc Manh, to Pyongyang where he met with Kim Jong
Il and extended an invitation for the supreme leader to visit Vietnam
later this year.
Manh also promised to send 2,000 tons of rice to North Korea.
Hanoi keeps diplomatic relations with both North and South Korea.
North Korea and Vietnam have not engaged in any significant level
of trade with each other in the past decade, while South Korea is one
of the largest foreign investors in Vietnam.
Kim's visit is expected to last until Tuesday, after which he is
to continue to Cambodia and Malaysia.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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