Vietnam's deputy defense minister has visited North Korea to discuss ways to bolster bilateral defense cooperation, the Southeast Asian country's defense ministry said on its website Friday. Senior Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien held a meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Min-seop, on Wednesday in Pyongyang, according to Vietnam's ministry. At the talks, the two sides said defense cooperation is one of the important areas of bilateral relations and agreed to bolster cooperation in various fields, including training, military technology and the defense industry, as well as high-level personnel exchanges, it said. A day later, the Vietnamese official paid a courtesy call on North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam. North Korea's state media has yet to report Chien's visit to Pyongyang. Since reopening its border following years of COVID-19-related shutdowns, North Korea has been expanding diplomatic activities with its traditionally friendly countries. Earlier this month, North Korea's vice foreig n minister, Pak Sang-gil, visited Vietnam as part of a four-nation trip that also included stops in Laos, Thailand and Indonesia. In early August, North Korea's new ambassador to Vietnam, Ri Sung-guk, began his official duty after years of delay in the North's appointment of the top envoy due to COVID-19. The post had remained vacant since Ri's predecessor, Kim Myong-gil, returned to North Korea in April 2019, months before the outbreak of the pandemic. Source: Yonhap News Agency