North Korea's new envoy to Vietnam Ri Sung Guk arrived in Hanoi on Monday, presenting a copy of his credentials to the Directorate of State Protocol under the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Deputy head of the Directorate of State Protocol Vu Hoang Yen welcomed Ambassador Ri on Monday as the new ambassador to Vietnam.

This appointment comes after years of delay due to North Korea's COVID-19-related border shutdown, according to The Gioi & Viet Nam (World & Vietnam) newspaper under the Vietnamese foreign ministry.

Ri’s appointment was announced by the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 30. This post had been vacant since Ri’s predecessor Kim Myong Gil returned to North Korea in April 2019.

Since then until Ri’s appointment, all activities of the North Korean Embassy in Vietnam were handled by Ri Ho Jun as charge d’affaires ad interim.

Upon receiving the copy of the letter of credence from Ambassador Ri, Yen congratulated him on his appointment and expressed her hope that he will enhance his role to further promote the traditional friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and North Korea.

Yen affirmed that the Vietnamese foreign ministry, the Directorate of State Protocol, as well as relevant units are ready to facilitate the new ambassador’s duties during his term of office in Vietnam.

Thanking Yen for her warm reception, Ambassador Ri expressed his appreciation for the fruitful development of the bilateral relationship between the two countries across all fields in recent years.

Ri noted that both sides have effectively implemented existing cooperation mechanisms, expanded cultural, artistic, and sports exchanges, promoted people-to-people and local cooperation, and strengthened coordination at multilateral forums.

He added that he is the first ambassador dispatched abroad by the North Korean government since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ri hoped that during his tenure in Vietnam, he would continue to receive support from the Vietnamese foreign ministry and its units to further promote the relationship between the two nations.

Vietnam and North Korea established diplomatic relations on January 31, 1950. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Hanoi in late February 2019 to attend the U.S.-North Korea summit and pay a two-day official visit to Vietnam.

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