Telegram, Embassy of Hungary in North Vietnam to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry

notThe Korean party and government delegation headed by Comrade Pak Seong-cheol [Pak Song Chol], which arrived in the DRV on October 24, was greeted with limited enthusiasm both at the airport and the reception the Vietnamese gave that evening. The chief editor of [the North Vietnamese party newspaper] Nhan Dan, when I asked him about this issue, replied that originally they had invited Comrade Kim Il Sung, but “allegedly he has been unwell for a long time.” The Vietnamese comrades also told the Soviet ambassador that Kim Il Sung had given them to understand that as a first step the DPRK expected the supreme Vietnamese leaders to visit [North Korea], after which he might personally return the visit. At the reception given in honor of the Korean delegation, it was conspicuous that in spite of the character of the delegation (party and government delegation), only three [Vietnamese] Politburo members and a CC secretary were present. In the toasts they gave they spoke very little about inter-party relations; the Korean toast did not even mention the name of the Soviet Union, the socialist countries, Marxism-Leninism, proletarian internationalism and the importance of the unity of the socialist countries, whereas the Vietnamese toast covered [these topics]. Moreover, the Korean toast mentioned Kim Il Sung only in his capacity as a state leader.   

– 232 – Jakus –