Vietnam's Communist Party chief To Lam will travel to North Korea this week, the Vietnamese government and North Korean state media said Monday, marking the first visit by a Vietnamese leader to the largely isolated nation in nearly 20 years.

The visit would coincide with a military parade North Korea will hold on Friday to celebrate 80 years since the founding of its ruling Workers' Party.

Lam's three-day visit will start on Thursday, the government in Hanoi said. It followed an invitation by North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry said, confirming a report by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.