DPRK Chairman Kim Jong Un waves to greet Vietnamese people as he walks out of the Dong Dang Railway Station in the northern province of Lang Son on February 26, 2019.

The visit, which is expected to set a historic milestone in relations between the two countries, comes 60 years after the first visit to Vietnam by then leader of the DPRK, Kim Il-sung in 1958 and is ahead of the 70th founding anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties next year.

Bilateral relations, founded and fostered by President Ho Chi Minh and leader Kim Il-sung, have been increasingly strengthened over the last seven decades, as seen through mutual visits, with more than 50 delegations at ministerial level and above.

Prior to the visit, Chairman Kim Jong Un attended the second DPRK-US summit in Hanoi, which ended without an agreement. During a mid-night press conference, DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said the DPRK had offered “realistic proposals” including dismantling its Yongbyon nuclear complex in return for a partial lifting of sanctions but the US was not ready to accept, and the two sides couldn’t reconcile their differences.