Warship 015-Trần Hưng Đạo receives warm friendship and hospitality in Japan

According to a reporter from People's Army Newspaper, on the afternoon of December 9, as part of the goodwill visit to Japan by Warship 015-Trần Hưng Đạo, a Vietnamese People's Navy delegation led by Colonel Nguyễn Vĩnh Nam, Deputy Commander of Naval Region 4, paid a courtesy call on the leadership of Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture.

Also attending were Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Phạm Quang Hiệu and Colonel Nguyễn Thái Sơn, Defense Attaché of Vietnam in Japan.

Mayor Yoshiake Shinhara highly appreciated this visit by Warship 015-Trần Hưng Đạo, expressing hope that through exchange activities and interactions with the host navy and local residents, the officers and sailors of the Vietnamese Navy would gain a deeper understanding of Kure City and return home with fond memories of the city. Mayor Yoshiake Shinhara also expressed his desire that Vietnam-Japan relations would become increasingly close and develop strongly, continuing to contribute to the common prosperity of Asia and the world.

Mayor Yoshiake Shinhara and Kure city leaders receive the Vietnamese delegation 

Mayor Yoshiake Shinhara delivers a welcome speech to the delegation and Warship 015-Trần Hưng Đạo 

Vietnamese delegates at the reception 

The Ambassador visits the ship and writes in the ship’s traditional logbook of Warship 015-Trần Hưng Đạo

The Ambassador takes a commemorative photo with delegates and the ship’s art troupe

Thanking Mayor Yoshiake Shinhara and the city leadership for their time, Colonel Nguyễn Vĩnh Nam said that from the moment they set foot in Kure, the delegation and crew of Warship 015-Trần Hưng Đạo had received warm friendship and hospitality from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and local people, while also witnessing the city’s economic development and peaceful beauty.

Colonel Nguyễn Vĩnh Nam presents a souvenir gift to Mayor Yoshiake Shinhara

Both sides take a group photo at Kure City Hall 

Colonel Nguyễn Vĩnh Nam emphasized that in recent years, defense cooperation between Vietnam and Japan in general, and between the Vietnamese People's Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in particular, has seen positive and effective development in areas such as port visits, officer and sailor exchanges, and the bilateral naval consultation mechanism. He expressed confidence that, with the solid foundation of political trust between the two countries and the goodwill and efforts of both sides, Vietnam-Japan cooperation will continue to expand and deepen across many fields, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, security, and shared prosperity in the region and the world.

That same evening, Mayor Yoshiake Shinhara and Vice Admiral Tamotsu Matsumoto, Commander of Kure District, along with officers and sailors of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, attended a reception hosted aboard Warship 015-Trần Hưng Đạo.