(28 Oct 2007)
1. Wide of North Korean Delegation in Nui Beo open coal mine pit in Quang Ninh province
2. Mid of North Korea Prime Minister Kim Yong Il with Vietnamese official from Nui Beo Coal mine
3. Close-up of North Korea Prime Minister Kim Yong Il
4. Wide of Nui Beo open coal mine pit
5. Mid of workers standing beside truck
6. Mid of worker sitting in crane
7. Wide of North Korean Delegation in Nui Beo open coal mine pit
8. Close-up and pan of coal
9. Mid of North Korea Prime Minister Kim Yong Il shaking the hand of Vietnamese official from Nui Beo Coal mine
10. Mid of North Korea Prime Minister Kim Yong Il getting into car
11. Mid of North Korea Prime Minister Kim Yong Il's motorcade
STORYLINE:
North Korea Prime Minister Kim Yong Il visited a coal mine in northern province of Quang Ninh, Vietnam on Sunday.
The visit came a day after he signed an agreement on Saturday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to forge closer cooperation in the sectors of agriculture, culture and tourism.
It was the Prime Ministers' first high-level meeting in five years.
The Vietnamese Government estimates its national coal reserves total some 3,500 metric tons, the majority of which is anthracite in Quang Ninh Province.
Coal production has increased dramatically over the last few years, and reached 27.33 metric tons in 2004.
Vietnam is expected to produce nearly 47.6 metric tons of coal in 2010.
Vietnam is currently the largest anthracite coal exporter in the world, accounting for 13 percent of the world market.
Kim Yong Il began his five-day visit to Vietnam on Saturday, aimed at boosting ties between the two communist countries.
Kim, who was accompanied by other senior party and government officials, was received by his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, with a red-carpet welcome.
Kim's visit to Vietnam, the first leg of a four-nation Southeast Asian tour, follows a trip by Vietnam's Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, last week.
He is the first North Korean premier to visit Hanoi since 1958.
The Vietnamese Communist Party newspaper Nhan Dan (People) said on its front page on Tuesday that "the visit will lift the traditional friendship and cooperation of Vietnam and North Korea to new heights".
Vietnam and North Korea, two of the world's few remaining communist countries, have long been ideological allies, but trade and economic ties remain weak.
Kim plans to visit the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City before departing for Malaysia on Tuesday.
He is then scheduled to travel to Cambodia and Laos, according to the North Korean Embassy.
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