Kerry Visits Vietnam on Last Trip as US Secretary of State

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, shakes hands with Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc Friday at the Office of the Government, before their meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: Alex Brandon / Associated Press

HANOI — Secretary of State John Kerry met Vietnamese leaders Friday during his last trip as the top diplomat for the United States.

He held separate meetings with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and acting Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son.

Kerry later left for Ho Chi Minh City to meet a group of Vietnamese youth and is scheduled Saturday to tour the Mekong delta province of Ca Mau, where he fought during the Vietnam War almost 50 years ago.

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Kerry then travels to Paris to attend a conference on Middle East peace and then to London where he will meet Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to discuss Syria.

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The most travelled top diplomat in U.S history ends his trip by attending the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos Switzerland on Jan. 18, just two days before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in office with former oilman Rex Tillerson nominated as his replacement.

Kerry and Sen. John McCain, who was held prisoner of war when his navy jetfighter was shot down over Hanoi during the war, were key participants in the U.S’s efforts to normalizing relations with former foe Vietnam in 1995.