North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is pleased to come to Vietnam, whose people he considers “friends,” for an official visit and a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump this week, he told Vietnamese officials on Tuesday.

Kim arrived in Vietnam in the morning after over 60 hours of traveling by train from Pyongyang and then through China.

A special train carrying him reached Dong Dang Railway Station in Lang Son Province, located along the border with China in northern Vietnam, around 8:00 am, to the warm and wholehearted welcome by Vietnamese officials and residents.

The leader comes for an official visit, whose date has not been disclosed, at the invitation of Vietnamese Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong, and a second summit with President Trump on Wednesday and Thursday.

The two high-profile figures first met in Singapore in June 2018.

Among the many officials greeting Kim at Dong Dang were Vo Van Thuong, a Politbureau member and chief of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Propaganda and Education, and Minister Mai Tien Dung, head of the Government Office.

“On behalf of the leaders of the Vietnamese Party and State, I welcome comrade to Vietnam,” Thuong recounted to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper what he had told Kim at the station when the North Korean leader stepped out of his special train.

“Your visit plays a very important role in developing the ties between Vietnam and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” he added.

“Thank you, Vietnamese friends!” Thuong quoted Kim as saying, adding the North Korean leader appreciated Vietnam’s emotional and warm welcome.

“Chairman Kim expressed his thank you to Vietnam for such a well-prepared and enthusiastic reception after his travel over thousands of kilometers,” Minister Mai Tien Dung recalled.

“He said he’s pleased to visit Vietnam.”

North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un shakes hands with Vo Van Thuong, a Vietnamese Politbureau member and chief of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Propaganda and Education, after he left his special train at Dong Dang Railway Station in Lang Son Province, northern Vietnam, February 26, 2019. Photo: Viet Dung / Tuoi Tre

North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un shakes hands with Vietnamese officials at Dong Dang Railway Station in Lang Son Province, northern Vietnam, February 26, 2019. Photo: Viet Dung / Tuoi Tre

North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un waves at local media and residents as he walks out of Dong Dang Railway Station in Lang Son Province, northern Vietnam, February 26, 2019. Photo: Viet Dung / Tuoi Tre

North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un waves at local residents lining the streets outside Dong Dang Railway Station in Lang Son Province, northern Vietnam, February 26, 2019. Photo: Viet Dung / Tuoi Tre

North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un waves at local residents lining the streets outside Dong Dang Railway Station in Lang Son Province, northern Vietnam, February 26, 2019. Photo: Viet Dung / Tuoi Tre

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