Vietnam's top leader to visit North Korea to mark key party anniversary: Report

Seoul, Oct 6 (IANS) Vietnam's top leader, To Lam, will visit North Korea to mark the 80th founding anniversary of the North's ruling Workers' Party of Korea, state media reported on Monday.

The Vietnamese leader will pay a state visit to the North at the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the occasion of the party anniversary set for Friday, reports Yonhap, quoting the Korean Central News Agency.

Vietnam's foreign ministry also announced that Lam will visit North Korea for three days starting Thursday.

It would mark the first trip to North Korea by a Vietnamese leader in 18 years.

Vietnam and North Korea have maintained close diplomatic relations since establishing ties in 1950.

North Korea is expected to hold a large-scale military parade to celebrate the party anniversary. The South Korean military earlier said the North may stage a nighttime parade involving tens of thousands of personnel.

In a separate development, South Korea's military has accused North Korea of preparing for a large-scale military parade to mark next week's key party anniversary.

The North is set to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea on October 10. North Korea has staged a military parade on party anniversaries that end in zero or five.

"There are signs of North Korea preparing for a military parade involving tens of thousands of people, which our military is closely monitoring," Col. Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said in a regular press briefing.

Lee said the military detected movements of vehicles and some military equipment, but did not further elaborate.

The JCS official said the North may stage a nighttime military parade, but it remains to be seen whether the event will take place near midnight or before then.

--IANS

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