[1] During the Cambodian Civil War, North Korea approved the Chinese plan to create a "united front of the five revolutionary Asian countries" (China, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia), whereas North Vietnam rejected it on the grounds that such a front would exclude the Soviet Union and challenge Vietnamese dominance in Indochina.

During the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, the North Korean leadership condemned the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, refused to recognize the People's Republic of Kampuchea, and allowed the exiled Norodom Sihanouk to stay in Korea.

[7] North Korea also provided supports for the Khmer Rouge during that time, sided with China during the Sino-Vietnamese War, and also demanded Vietnam to be removed from the Non-Aligned Movement.

[13] The son of a former staff member in the Vietnamese embassy in Pyongyang, who also attended Kim Il Sung University between 1998 and 2002, gave an interview in 2004 with South Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo about the experiences he had while living there.

Both countries agreed on tightening diplomatic ties and economy, which was damaged by previous North Korean support to the Khmer Rouge.