North Korea Sends Vice Ministers to Vietnam and UN Assembly

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-gyong left Pyongyang on Sept. 22 for the 81st U.N. General Assembly, seen off by Foreign Ministry officials, and is set to speak on the General Debate's closing day. The trip ends a six-year stretch without a minister-level North Korean envoy after the 2019 Hanoi summit, a period when U.N. ambassador Kim Song spoke instead. Last year Kim told the assembly, "We will never lay down our nuclear weapons, and under no circumstances will we retract this position." The same day, Vice Defense Minister Ryo Chol-ung left for Vietnam with a delegation seen off by defense ministry officials, Vietnam's ambassador, and the embassy defense attache. Pyongyang gave no purpose or itinerary. The visit follows closer ties marked by Vietnamese President To Lam's October trip to Pyongyang—the first by a top Vietnamese leader in 18 years—Kim Jong-un's early-September letter on Vietnam's 81st founding anniversary, May talks between the foreign ministers, and June security-minister talks on public security and law enforcement.