North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong Ho has had a busy year. As Kim Jong Un sought to step out of his shell and engage in a tentative rapprochement with the country’s traditional enemies, his chief diplomat has visited, among others, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan.

And it seems that he will now round off the year with a trip to Hanoi.

Speaking at a press briefing last week, a spokesperson for Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) appeared to confirmthat previously-rumored plans would go ahead – though was sketchy on when precisely Ri would be arriving. It