Sculptures honoring N. Korean soldiers to be erected in Vietnam - Yonhap News Agency
SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- Sculptures honoring North Korean soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War are set to be installed in Hanoi, Pyongyang's state media reported Monday.
A ceremony unveiling the monument's foundation plaque was held Friday at the Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
North Korea is believed to have sent close to 400 soldiers to Vietnam during the war, including 90 pilots between 1966 and 1969.
The plaque, inscribed "Feelings of Friendship between Vietnam and DPRK," notes that the two countries established diplomatic relations in January 1950 and that North Korea "rendered material and moral assistance" during Vietnam's "anti-U.S. resistance to national salvation."
DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic Republic of Korea.
"The combat spirit and self-sacrificing spirit displayed by Korean soldiers are a noble and beautiful symbol of the good international unity and contributed to the consolidation of the friendly relations between Vietnam and the DPRK," the accompanying text read, according to the KCNA.
The unveiling ceremony was attended by North Korea's Vice Defense Minister Ryo Chol-ung and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Truong Thang, along with North Korean Ambassador to Vietnam Ri Sung-guk, embassy staff and Vietnamese defense officials.
A delegation of North Korea's national defense ministry, led by Vice Minister Ryo Chol-ung (C), arrives at the international airport in Pyongyang on Sept. 22, 2026, before its departure for Vietnam, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
The North Korean delegation also visited a memorial in Bac Ninh City, north of Hanoi, honoring fallen Korean People's Army soldiers and laid a wreath there.
Led by Ryo, the delegation has been in Vietnam since Sept. 22.
The trip comes as Pyongyang and Hanoi have stepped up efforts to deepen bilateral relations.
Early this month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wrote to Vietnamese President To Lam, pledging to strengthen ties, marking the country's 81st founding anniversary.
Relations between the two nations have warmed steadily since last October, when Lam became the first Vietnamese president to visit North Korea in 18 years.
In May, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung visited the North for talks with his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son-hui.
The following month, the two countries' security ministers held talks in Pyongyang to discuss ways to expand cooperation on public security and law enforcement.
