Hegseth Visits Vietnam Looking To Pull Hanoi Away From Russia and North Korea

Fifty years after the end of America’s war in Vietnam, Washington has returned with a long wish list for Hanoi. On November 3, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth concluded his two-day visit to Vietnam, during which he met with his Vietnamese counterpart and pledged to strengthen defense ties between the former adversaries.  

The trip, which follows a visit by Vietnamese Prime Minister To Lam to North Korea — the first prime minister to visit in decades — highlights Washington’s efforts to maintain ties to Hanoi amid its growing links to both Pyongyang and Moscow.

Hegseth Addresses War Legacy, Promises Additional Funding for Restoration

During his visit, Hegseth met with Vietnamese Defense Minister Phan Van Giang, offering him several items taken by American soldiers from a bunker in Da Nang in 1968 as a symbol of reconciliation while pledging to continue to address long-standing bilateral irritants following the end of the war. Washington has pledged $130 million in new funding to clean up Agent Orange, a poisonous defoliant used by American forces, and offered new DNA technology to support Hanoi in searching for its own missing soldiers.

However, the visit did not appear to produce any meaningful progress on several prospective American arms sales to Vietnam, including deals for both the F-16 fighter jet and C-130 transport aircraft. During the trip, however, Hegseth praised a previous delivery of several trainer aircraft to the Vietnamese Air Force and suggested that discussions between Washington and Hanoi remain positive.

Vietnam Continues To Expand Its Regional Influence During Large-Scale Military Buildup

The visit highlighted Vietnam’s extensive military buildup over the past several years, both as a necessity to replace aging Soviet-era systems and an effort to project power into the South China Sea amid rising Chinese aggression. Having claimed several features in the Spratly Islands, which border Malaysia and the Philippines, Vietnam has built nearly 2,200 acres of artificial, militarized “islands,” second only to China’s efforts to fortify its contested holdings within the Spratly and Paracel Islands. While still under construction, these islands will likely host new air bases and surveillance stations that will allow Hanoi to monitor naval and air activity in the region.  

Hanoi has also expanded its defense ties with Russia and North Korea, even as it continues to attract American military investments. In October, Vietnam’s leader, disrupting nearly two decades of precedent and diplomatic protocol, visited North Korea to attend a military parade in Pyongyang and sign a defense cooperation agreement with the Kim Jong Un regime. Despite working to improve its domestic defense industrial base, Vietnam has also signed contracts with Russian firms for air-defense systems, submarine upgrades, and new combat aircraft, with Moscow allowing Hanoi to settle its debts in rubles.

Washington Should Work to Strengthen and Calibrate Ties With Hanoi

The United States should continue to prioritize its relationship with Vietnam as a growing military power within the region whose capacity to project influence remains significant. The Trump administration should accelerate its efforts to implement its newly signed trade agreement with Vietnam, both to prevent Chinese transshipment through the country and to stabilize burgeoning economic ties.

Washington should also continue to prioritize selling both the F-16 and C-130 to Hanoi, though any agreement should be conditioned on Hanoi’s willingness to unwind its defense cooperation with Russia and repudiate ties with North Korea. These sales should also be conditioned on Hanoi strengthening its efforts to prevent Moscow from using Vietnamese firms and co-production facilities to circumvent sanctions, an issue that should also be folded into any follow-on trade talks.

Jack Burnham is a research analyst in the China Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Jack and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Jack on X @JackBurnham802. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.