South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attend a welcoming ceremony in the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, South Korea, April 27, 2018.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un mentioned Vietnam in his conversations with South Korean President Moon Jae-in last month as an example of how his country should expand on economically, an anonymous government official told Pulse last week.

As the two Korean leaders met for the first time, Kim Jong-un told Moon Jae-in that he prefers Vietnam’s model over China's because Vietnam has maintained a great relationship with the U.S., the official said.

In 1986, Vietnam initiated “doi moi” economic reforms that opened its market and attracted foreign investors, but still maintained the country’s socialist values.

The government official said that North Korea had used Vietnam as a benchmark and studied its economic reforms.

Kim Jong-un believes that strengthening his relationship with the U.S. is essential to attracting foreign investors, and is expected to discuss Vietnam's economic opening along with denuclearization at an upcoming meeting with President Donald Trump, the official said.

A time and location have yet to be set for the meeting, but Singapore has been tagged as one of the favorites.