Kim to extend Vietnam stay after Trump summit
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Hanoi: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will extend his stay in Vietnam following his second summit with President Donald Trump slated to begin here on Wednesday, Pyongyang state-media reported.
The Korean Central News Agency KCNA has offered new details on Kim's agenda in Vietnam, which until now had been kept secret, reports Efe news.
After Kim and Trump "hold the historic second bilateral summit" on Wednesday and Thursday, the North Korean leader will remain in Vietnam till Saturday, according to KCNA.
On his visit to the North Korean embassy in Hanoi, Kim stressed the willingness to "consolidate the deep-rooted friendship between the two parties and the two countries, which had already been started by the founder of North Korea Kim Il-sung and former Vietnamese President Ho Chi-minh", KCNA said.
The regime's official media alluded to the visits made by the grandfather of the current North Korean ruler between 1958 and 1964 to North Vietnam to visit the then Vietnamese leader.
No further details about Kim's official agenda in Vietnam have been released but it could include a visit to the Hanoi mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, as well as a meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong.
This is the first trip of a North Korean leader to the country since its reunification in 1975.
KCNA also published images of Kim's arrival in Hanoi, where he expressed "gratitude for the warm hospitality and honourable treatment of the Vietnamese government and people", as well as his visit to the North Korean embassy and a meeting with the delegation that finalises the details for the summit with Trump.
Trump, who reached Hanoi on Tuesday night, tweeted on Wednesday morning: "Vietnam is thriving like few places on earth. North Korea would be the same, and very quickly, if it would denuclearize.
"The potential is awesome, a great opportunity, like almost none other in history, for my friend Kim Jong-un. We will know fairly soon... Very Interesting."
The two leaders first met in Singapore last June.
