North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed his gratitude to the Vietnamese people for a warm welcome upon his arrival in the country on Tuesday for a summit with US President Donald Trump, a local news outlet reported.

"I had gone through a journey of more than 3,000 kilometers to Vietnam and thank the country for a warm and enthusiastic welcome,"


(Yonhap)
Kim was quoted as telling Mai Tien Dung, minister of the Vietnamese Government Office, who greeted him at the Dong Dang train station, according to VnExpress.

Kim is the first North Korean leader to travel to Vietnam in five decades.

He plans to meet Trump in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday and also pay a "friendly official" visit to the Southeast Asian nation. (Yonhap)