North Korean leader Kim Jong-un steps off the train at Dong Dang Railway Station, Lang Son Province, Vietnam, February 2019. EPA-Yonhap
HANOI — Vietnam will build a memorial and renovate a cemetery dedicated to North Korean servicemen killed fighting during the Vietnam War, state media reported, in a rare public acknowledgement of Pyongyang's military role in the conflict.
North Korea sent fighter pilots to North Vietnam in the 1960s, where some flew Soviet-made MiG-17 jets in combat missions against U.S. aircraft, according to Vietnamese and North Korean state media.
Vietnam and North Korea maintain diplomatic ties dating back to the Cold War, but Pyongyang's direct involvement in the Vietnam War remains little known.
The memorial project was discussed at a meeting chaired by Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Truong Thang in Hanoi on Monday and attended by North Korean Ambassador Ri Sung Guk, the Defence Ministry's Quan Doi Nhan Dan newspaper reported.
