English
Minister, Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung said Kim Jong-un was all smiles as he greeted him with a handshake.
"We are very happy. Thank Vietnam very much," Dung said of what Kim told him.
 |
Minister, Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung (L), greets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at Dong Dang railway station. Photo by Nhat Bac |
 |
Guards run after Kim Jong-un's car as it leaves Dong Dang railway station for Hanoi. Photo by Huu Khoa
Kim Jong-un car leaves for Hanoi. Video by Viet Tuan
More than 60 years ago in late 1958, his grandfather Kim Il-sung also visited Hanoi on an armored train, which had its own conference rooms, bedrooms and acted as a mobile office. It had between 17 and 21 cars and a maximum speed of 60 kph. It also had a small helicopter for emergencies.
 |
Kim Jong-un's S600 Pullman Guard car is parked at the entrance of Dong Dang railway station. Photo by Viet Tuan
Kim is scheduled to be in Vietnam for his official first visit to the country and the second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi.
He will be accompanied by Kim Yong-chol, who has been a key negotiator in talks with the U.S., and Kim Yo Jong, the leader’s sister.
North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) had confirmed Sunday that Kim Jong-un had boarded a train from Pyongyang to begin the journey to Vietnam on Saturday.
Over the past days, security has been tightened to the highest level at the railway station on the Chinese border which is now closed to welcome the North Korean leader’s arrival.
Trump and Kim will meet face-to-face in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore in June, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, at which they pledged to work towards denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry announced Saturday that Kim Jong-un will pay an official visit to Vietnam in the coming days at the invitation of Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong.
