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We have just learned that the U.S Secretary of State will be visiting Vietnam to discuss
denuclearization in North Korea. Secretary Pompeo will meet Ngueyn Phu Trong, the
Secretary General of the Vietnam Communist Party, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc
and his counterpart Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh
Minh [see below].
What is your assessment of Secretary Pompeo’s visit? What will be on the agenda?
ASSESSMENT: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is the Trump Administration’s lead
person for talks with North Korea on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. He
will be visiting Vietnam after North Korea and Japan. Because his schedule is so tight
he cannot possibly discuss the full range of bilateral issues on the table under the U.S.-
Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership. Outstanding economic issues were discussed
during Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue’s visit to the United States last month.
Hue met Secretary Pompeo and was quoted as affirming that “Vietnam is willing to
cooperate with and support all constructive efforts to solve disagreements through
dialogue and actively contribute to peace, security and stability in the Korean
peninsula.” This suggests that Pompeo will raise the Korean issue and Vietnam’s
possible role while he visits Hanoi.
Vietnam can contribute to this process as it has in the past when Vietnam hosted talks
between North Korea and Japan on the issue of family reunions and Japanese
kidnapped by North Korea. . Vietnam could offer itself as a venue for side talks.
Vietnam could also be enlisted as a go-between to Pyongyang by sharing experiences
in ending sanctions, domestic economic reform and opening up to the world economy.
During his trip to Washington, Hue also met U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
who expressed his desire to visit Vietnam as soon as possible to advance economic
cooperation. This seems to indicate that the agreement Hue and Mnuchin reached on
working-level dialogue to sort out bilateral trade issues is on course and will not
feature prominently during Pompeo’s visit.
Hue also met with Deputy National Security Adviser Mira Ricardel. This could indicate
that South China Sea issues might be raised. However, this is the purview of Secretary
of Defense James Mattis. If Vietnam’s leaders signal to Pompeo their desire to step up
defence cooperation, it will be Secretary Mattis and the Indo-Pacific Command that
will take responsibility for implementation.
2
Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Visit
Vietnam,” Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, July 6, 2018. All background briefs
are posted on Scribd.com (search for Thayer). To remove yourself from the mailing list
type, UNSUBSCRIBE in the Subject heading and hit the Reply key.
3
Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and
other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially
registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.