SEOUL (Reuters) - A senior North Korean official leading a delegation met with his Vietnamese counterpart on Monday and discussed ways to elevate bilateral relations, North Korean state media KCNA said on Wednesday.

       The delegation, which met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last week and is expected to visit Laos next, comes as Pyongyang seeks to expand its diplomatic engagement after COVID-19 lockdowns.

       Kim Song Nam, director of the international department at North Korea's ruling Workers' Party of Korea, met Le Hoai Trung, chairman of the Communist Party of Vietnam's Commission for External Relations in Hanoi on Monday, KCNA said.

       Kim mentioned North Korea's "confrontational struggles" with the United States, while Trung expressed the Vietnamese ruling party's position to develop traditional friendly relations between the two nations, KCNA said.

       They agreed to expand and strengthen political ties, revitalize cooperation in various fields, and support each other on the international stage, it added.

       Meanwhile, a separate economic delegation to Russia led by North Korea's external economic relations minister Yun Jong Ho left Pyongyang on Tuesday, KCNA said.

       (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

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