Vietnamese President visits North Korea

The Vietnamese President, Tran Duc Luong, is beginning a four-day official visit to North Korea, aimed at bolstering ties between the two Communist states.

He's the first Vietnamese leader to visit North Korea in four decades.

Correspondents say relations have only begun to thaw in recent years, following Hanoi's recognition of Seoul in 1992.

But Vietnam's position as the world's second largest rice exporter makes it an attractive ally for North Korea, which is facing severe food shortages.

Mr Luong is accompanied by fifty government officials; they are due to visit Burma after leaving North Korea. This trip follows a state visit by the North Korean number two, Kim Yong-nam, to Hanoi last year.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service