North Korea and Vietnam pledged to deepen cooperation across multiple sectors during foreign minister talks in Pyongyang on Wednesday, as Hanoi’s dispatch of a special envoy signaled renewed momentum in ties between the two socialist states.

In a meeting at the Pyongyang Assembly Hall, DPRK Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui and her Vietnamese counterpart Le Hoai Trung also agreed to strengthen strategic communication, support and cooperation between the two countries’ foreign policy institutions, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Thursday.

The meeting came seven months after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Vietnam’s ruling party chief To