Most of the debate around the thawing of relations between the US and North Korea has focused on denuclearisation. But the longer-term, more challenging issue is how best to “normalise” Pyongyang’s economy. Last weekend, Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, suggested that North Korea should emulate Vietnam , a view that is also gaining currency on the Korean peninsula.

Hanoi’s relative success in modernising its economy and restoring diplomatic relations after a period of isolation seems particularly apt. It has managed to rejoin the broader international community without jeopardising Communist party control. (China’s example is less relevant because of its sheer size.)

Vietnam is now a booming economic and political power, with Asia’s third-highest gross domestic product growth rate — below China and India — for much of the past decade. But for decades after the Communist victory in 1975, the country was seen as a “rogue state” and isolated by the west through sanctions and severed diplomatic ties.