Kim Jong Un pays tribute to Ho Chi Minh

N. Korean leader makes stop at monument to independence hero before end of Vietnam visit

Mr Kim Jong Un attending a wreath-laying ceremony at the Monument to War Heroes and Martyrs in Hanoi yesterday. His trip to Vietnam was the first by a North Korean leader since 1964.
Mr Kim Jong Un attending a wreath-laying ceremony at the Monument to War Heroes and Martyrs in Hanoi yesterday. His trip to Vietnam was the first by a North Korean leader since 1964. PHOTO: REUTERS

HANOI • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un paid tribute to Vietnam's late revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh yesterday before starting his long journey home through China, after his Hanoi summit with United States President Donald Trump ended without a nuclear deal.

Mr Kim boarded his olive green armoured train at the Dong Dang border station in Vietnam before it rolled northward towards China en route to Pyongyang, kicking off a marathon 4,000km journey expected to take 21/2 days.

Earlier, Mr Kim made a highly unusual stop at the stark concrete monument where the body of Vietnam's independence hero is on display.

On historic North Korean anniversaries, Mr Kim regularly pays tribute - with the "humblest reverence", according to the official KCNA news agency - to his predecessors, his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung, at the sprawling memorial palace on the outskirts of Pyongyang where their preserved remains lie in state.

But he is not known to have previously done anything similar for a foreign leader.

The North Korean adjusted the ribbons on a large wreath emblazoned with his name and the message "Cherishing the memory of President Ho Chi Minh", before bowing his head for no less than 48 seconds.

Mr Kim has visited China, the North's key diplomatic protector and main provider of trade and aid, four times but there have been no reports in either country's state media of him going to Mao Zedong's mausoleum in Beijing.

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But Mr Kim's grandfather was a close friend of Ho Chi Minh and supplied him with fighter pilots and psychological warfare specialists during his war against the US-backed regime in South Vietnam.

Pictures of the two together are displayed on the noticeboard outside the Vietnamese embassy in Pyongyang.

Mr Kim's trip to Vietnam was the first by a North Korean leader since 1964, when Kim Il Sung also travelled by rail for his journey to the South-east Asian nation.

Mr Kim boarded his own train yesterday and headed towards China, though his route was not known and it was not clear whether he would be stopping to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping along the journey.

A smiling Mr Kim waved to crowds at the station and clasped his hands in the air as he was seen off by white-uniformed soldiers and Vietnamese officials.

"I really admire Chairman Kim Jong Un and I see him as a friendly person," said local resident Nguyen Thuy Chi at the station.

On Friday, Mr Kim met Vietnam's top leaders and reportedly tried his hand at playing a dan bau - a traditional single-string guitar.

Pictures in the Vietnamese press showed the grinning leader with the instrument as a crowd of Vietnamese guests - including President Nguyen Phu Trong - cheered him on.

Mr Kim and Mr Trump's much-hyped second summit finished abruptly, with a signing ceremony scrapped, on Thursday after the pair failed to reach an agreement on walking back North Korea's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

Both sides said they were open to further talks, though a third summit has not been scheduled.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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From hopes of a deal to dramatic collapse of talks

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on March 03, 2019, with the headline Kim Jong Un pays tribute to Ho Chi Minh. Subscribe