71 years after Pyongyang and Hanoi established diplomatic relations on Jan. 31, Kim Jong Un can’t escape the fact that Vietnam has achieved what North Korea never could. Despite starting from similar circumstances, his comrades managed to reunite the fatherland and grow its economy. North Korea’s outlook, in contrast, is rather bleak — but its old friend seems ready to help when the time is right.

Unlike North Vietnam, North Korea failed to defeat their compatriots in the south by force. As a result, its leaders have not been able to open up their country too much or too rapidly,