HANOI (Reuters) -Vietnam’s Communist Party chief To Lam is expected to visit North Korea next month, two Vietnamese officials said, marking the first visit in nearly 20 years for a Vietnamese leader to the largely isolated nation.

The two Communist countries maintain close diplomatic ties but have currently no trade relations, according to the Vietnamese embassy in Pyongyang.

The possible visit, with preparations still underway, has not been officially announced by either side. Vietnam’s ministry of foreign affairs and North Korea’s embassy in Hanoi did not respond to requests for comment.

The two officials declined to indicate a precise time frame for the visit and the issues that may be discussed, but one official said Lam would meet North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un.

The last time a

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