Let me put a marker down: any North Korean leader will visit Vietnam before he ever visits Seoul.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong-Il would pay an official visit to Hanoi "at a coming date" without being specific.

The last senior Vietnamese figure to visit North Korea was then-President Tran Duc Luong in May 2002.

Last week, the Vietnam government Web site said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung had "approved an investment protection and encouragement pact" with North Korea.

Vietnam has relations with both North Korea and South Korea. The South Koreans are the biggest investors in the Southeast Asian country, whose economy is growing at more than 8 percent a year.

I guess, though, Seoul had something to do with this visit, since it's Vietnam's top exporter (and avid consumer of brides). I also wonder if American goods might find their way by this circuitous route through Hanoi to Pyongyang?