VIETNAM AND DPRK WORK TO IMPROVE TIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000627

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/K

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV VM KN KS
SUBJECT: VIETNAM AND DPRK WORK TO IMPROVE TIES

HANOI 00000627 001.4 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador Michael W. Marine per 1.4 (b),(d)

Summary and Comment
--------------


1. (C) DPRK MFA Asia Director Ma Chol-su visited Vietnam
March 2-5 as part of the two countries' continuing efforts to
patch up relations following the mass defection incident of
July 2004. During meetings in Hanoi with Government and
Party representatives, the two sides agreed to pursue
high-level visits, including by the DPRK Foreign Minister
later in 2005. The DPRK representative requested food and
other assistance, criticized the United States in the context
of the Six Party Talks and "positively evaluated" Vietnam's
reform efforts. For their part, the Vietnamese interlocutors
urged the DPRK and other parties to resolve peacefully the
nuclear issue and promised to consider the DPRK's assistance
request. Reportedly, neither side raised the matter of North
Korean asylum seekers in Vietnam. Although Vietnam and North
Korea appear to have more or less patched up their relations,
Vietnam's relationship with the ROK still dwarfs its ties
with its "traditional friend." End Summary and Comment.


2. (C) On March 16, ROK Embassy Political First Secretary Lee
Kang-kuk provided Pol/C with the briefing he received from
the Vietnamese MFA on the March 2-5 visit to Hanoi of DPRK
MFA Asia Director General Ma Chol-su. Ma's primary
interlocutor was MFA Asia 1 Director Nguyen Ba Cu, but he
also met with Vice Foreign Minister Nguyen Phu Binh,
Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) External Relations
Commission Vice Chair Ta Minh Chau, MFA Economics Director
General Doan Xung Hung, Diplomatic Service Bureau Chairman
Nguyen Van Xuong and the Ministry of Trade's Asia Director
General. Following his stop in Hanoi, Ma and his colleague
(NFI) traveled to Laos, Indonesia and India.

Bilateral Relations
--------------


3. (C) The primary focus of Ma's visit was to "advance and
normalize bilateral relations" and follow up VFM Binh's visit
to Pyongyang in September 2005, the Vietnamese reported to
the Korean Embassy. The Vietnamese invited DPRK Foreign
Minister Paek Nam-sun to visit Vietnam this year, and DG Ma
promised that the DPRK would provide its reply on the
occasion of the ARF in Kuala Lumpur in July. During Ma's
meeting at the CPV, Vice Chair Chau said that External
Relations Commission Chairman Nguyen Van Son would like to
visit Pyongyang in late April or early May, which DG Ma
welcomed.


4. (C) The two sides also agreed to hold in Pyongyang
sometime this year the sixth round of the Vietnam-DPRK
Economic Cooperation Committee. Each side's delegation would
be led by a vice minister of trade. Furthermore, the Vietnam
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) plans to send a
delegation to North Korea "in the near future." In terms of
assistance, the DPRK representative requested that Vietnam
provide North Korea with 20,000 tons of rice and 20 tons of
rubber (as follow-on to the 1,000 tons of rice and five tons
of rubber that Vietnam provided last year). The Vietnamese
reportedly promised to think about it. The two sides also
agreed to advance cultural and educational exchanges and to
make repairs to each other's respective embassies.

Nuclear Issue, North-South Relations, Asylum Seekers
-------------- --------------


5. (C) On the subject of the Six Party Talks, DG Ma said that
they are "false talks" and that U.S. "financial sanctions"
against North Korea violate the understanding reached in
September 2005. The United States uses the issues of
democracy and human rights to "pressure North Korea" and must
change its policy. For their part, the GVN and CPV
representatives expressed their hope that all parties would
be able to resolve peacefully the issues before them. On
North-South relations, DG Ma said that, through dialogue and
economic cooperation, things are going well and that the DPRK
intends to continue to pursue this course. Neither side
raised the issue of North Korean asylum seekers in Vietnam.

"Internal Conditions," Third-Country Relations
-------------- -


6. (C) The North Korean representative "positively evaluated"
Vietnam's Doi Moi ("renovation") policy and its efforts to
join the WTO and successfully host APEC. North Korea's own
internal situation has improved, DG Ma reported, and the DPRK
produced 5.45 million tons of food last year. Nonetheless,
there is still a shortfall, and, although the DPRK will not

HANOI 00000627 002.4 OF 002


seek assistance from international aid agencies, it would
accept food and other aid from bilateral partners.


7. (C) Finally, DG Ma said that the DPRK's relations with
China and Russia are proceeding smoothly on the basis of
friendship and cooperation. Japan, on the other hand,
continues its "single-minded insistence" on addressing the
abduction issue, and there has been no progress in the two
sides' normalization talks.

Comment
--------------


8. (C) Vietnam-DPRK relations appear to be more or less back
on track following the cold spell generated by the July 2004
transfer (or, as the DPRK put it, "mass kidnapping") of some
450 asylum seekers from Ho Chi Minh City to Seoul.
Nonetheless, Vietnam's economic, political and cultural ties
with the ROK dwarf its relations with "traditional friend"
North Korea, and for the foreseeable future, the bulk of
Hanoi's outreach efforts will likely remain focused on Seoul
rather than Pyongyang. End Comment.
MARINE