Editor's note: Xu Fangqing is a senior editor at China News Week, a non-resident fellow with Center for China and Globalization. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The topic about whether the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will follow Vietnam's step to reform and build its socialism comes into the spotlight recently as Vietnam's capital, Hanoi is pinned as the venue for the second Kim-Trump summit later this month.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indeed expressed his expectation that he hoped the DPRK would follow up Vietnam's model when he visited Hanoi in July last year.

Without any doubt, the Vietnam model in his eyes includes both the democratic and market-oriented reform and the diplomatic strategy to approach the U.S. in the region.  

However, this is on the question, but a delusion for the U.S. And the unrealistic ambition would further hinder the following negotiations between the DPRK and U.S. because more misunderstandings will occur based on the acknowledgment. 

No matter which country the model belongs to, the DPRK will take it as a potential option to learn for their socialist economy and social development.

Furthermore, there is no specific common definition for the "Vietnam model" until now.

According to the western standards, the democratic progress on the politics and free, market-oriented economy compose the format basically.  

Despite the official statement on the "all-out for construction" from the third plenary session of the seventh general assembly of the Workers' Party of Korea in April of last year as well as the high-profile stance for the cooperation with the U.S. and the rest of the world was out of expectation, we can't come to conclude that the DPRK will embrace the mainstream of the world economy at all levels.  

Still facing grave economic sanctions, it's too early for the nation in the peninsula to think about the options on the economic and social models. Even though a big and substantial breakthrough on the denuclearization in the peninsula between the U.S. and DPRK happens, it's still the first-best option for Pyongyang to cross the river by feeling the stones.

Pragmatism instead of comprehensive models from other countries is optimal for the policymakers of the country.

As for the official flows from the DPRK into Vietnam for study and learning last year, the phenomenon also took place in recent years in China, many officials visited Chinese industrial zones and technological parks. 

It's inappropriate to overreact to the activities, and it's the only conventional arrangement for Pyongyang.

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un stated his country would like to boost the strategic communications with socialist countries in the 2019 New Year greetings.

To find out the "premium option" for its economic development, the DPRK should study and learn more from other brother countries which have no intention to change its socialist system. Vietnam is only one of them, not the specific one.

The DPRK has built up its own format with characteristics during the past 70 years since its foundation. The format to some extent could be taken as one cornerstone of its sovereignty, thus it's hard to change it dramatically overnight.

The isolation between Pyongyang and the rest of the world leads to the lack of knowledge and in this way misunderstandings ensue as a result.

Based on the current big changes the DPRK has made, people may anticipate more would come such as the Pyongyang would turn itself into Hanoi or Beijing. That never be true considering the socialist country's format and intentions.

Any change or reform in the DPRK would be firstly in accord with its national security and stability. In other words, the DPRK will only take no other model but its own.  

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