Hanoi - North Korean Foreign Minister Park Ui Chun met with
his Vietnamese counterpart in Hanoi Saturday, with outside countries
hoping Vietnam would voice issues of international concern in its
talks with the reclusive, nuclear-armed communist nation.
During an effusive exchange of greetings with Vietnamese Foreign
Minister Pham Gia Khiem, Park complimented Vietnam on its
'cleanliness.'
'In particular, the government and society here today are very
stable,' Park said, seemingly emphasizing those elements which North
Korea finds most attractive in its fellow communist country.
After the first five minutes, the talks between Park and Khiem
were closed to journalists.
Park's visit to Hanoi comes on the heels of Friday's visit by
Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura. Both ministers are
returning from an ASEAN security summit in Singapore this week, which
witnessed the latest round of the six-party talks on shutting down
North Korea's nuclear weapons programmes.
Japan and the United States have expressed the hope that Vietnam
would use its historical ties to North Korea to push the reclusive
Communist country to move forward in the denuclearization talks.
The United States is chiefly concerned with obtaining a fuller
accounting of North Korea's programmes to produce enriched uranium,
which could be used to build nuclear bombs. Japan has demanded that
North Korea fully account for the Japanese citizens it secretly
abducted in the 1970s and 80s.
Meeting with Khiem on Friday, Komura said Japan would be 'very
grateful' if Vietnam would stress to Pak the necessity of accounting
for all of the abductees.
Komura and Khiem also reiterated their and ASEAN's support for the
goal of a verifiable denuclearization of the Korea peninsula.
Before meeting with Khiem, Park met Saturday with Vietnamese
Communist Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, who with Prime
Minister Nguyen Van Dung and President Nguyen Minh Triet is one of
the country's top three leaders. It is not yet known whether Khiem or
Manh raised the issues of denuclearization or of Japanese abductees
with Park.
Vietnam's friendly relations with North Korea date from the 1950s
through the 80s, when both were strict communist allies of the Soviet
Union.
Their ties have dwindled in recent decades as Hanoi has reformed
its economy and society and South Korea as has become the second-
largest investor in Vietnam.
But officials from Pyongyang periodically come to Vietnam and in
October North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong Il visited Hanoi and
signed several trade and cooperation agreements.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story