Kim Jong-un likely to visit Vietnam as a guest of the state

The North Korean embassy in Hanoi. (Yonhap News)

State visit would be its own diplomatic achievement alongside 2nd NK-US summit

The Vietnamese capital of Hanoi’s selection as the venue for a second North Korea-US summit on Feb. 27–28 has some observers speculating that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is increasingly likely to pay a visit to Vietnam as a guest of the state. If this visit does take place, it is predicted to mean another major diplomatic event for the North alongside the summit.

The organization of Kim’s visit to Vietnam as a guest of the state alongside the second North Korea-US summit has been the subject of heavy speculation from the foreign press. Analysts also posited this was a factor in Pyongyang consistently favoring the capital city of Hanoi as a summit venue rather than the resort city of Da Nang.

The JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi, where US President Donald Trump is most likely to stay

A guest of the state visit is considered the preeminent form of summit diplomacy. A country that invites another head of state as a guest provides an incomparably higher level of respect and protocol than in official or working-level visits. South Korean President Moon Jae-in previously paid a three-day visit to Vietnam as a guest of the state in March 2018. If Kim follows suit, Vietnam will have invited both the leaders of South and North Korea as guests of the state in the space of one year.

Kim’s visit as a guest of the state would be his first since coming to power. While he has visited China four times to date, all have been either unofficial or official visits. In the Vietnamese case, a guest of the state visit for Kim would itself represent a diplomatic achievement on par with the holding of a second North Korea-US summit.

The Melia Hanoi Hotel, where North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is most likely to stay

State visit likely to occur after summit

It remains to be seen whether Kim’s guest of the state visit will take place before or after the North Korea-US summit. If it comes before the summit, Kim would need to arrive in Hanoi early. When the first North Korea-US summit was held in Singapore last year, Kim arrived two days beforehand and met with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, although he was not visiting as a guest of the state. In view of Kim’s need to focus on the summit, a visit afterwards appears somewhat more likely.

Kim is to be the third North Korean head of state to visit Hanoi. His grandfather Kim Il-sung visited Hanoi and met with President Ho Chi Minh in November 1958 and October 1964. Kim Jong-un’s visit to Hanoi would be the first by a North Korean leader in 55 years. The visit is expected to provide an occasion for North Korea to show off its relationship with Vietnam, a longtime fellow socialist state that was a staunch ally during the Vietnam War and has since emerged as a model for reforms and openness.

The Vietnam National Convention Center, where the second North Korea-US summit is most likely to be held

By Yoo Kang-moon, senior staff writer

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