North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un embraced South Korean President Moon Jae-in after the latter arrived at Pyongyang's international airport on Tuesday morning for the third summit between the two leaders in less than six months.
Kim greeted Moon as he walked down the stairs of his presidential Boeing 747. The two leaders were accompanied by their wives and soon headed to a military welcome ceremony. Hundreds of people waved North Korean flags on the tarmac to greet Moon.
Moon has continued to lay great stress on rapprochement with the regime of Kim even as the US insists that North Korea commit to full denuclearisation.
The South Korean media has warned that public support for the initiatives may be waning given lack of progress on issues such as Kim's nuclear arsenal and a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War. Analysts expect Kim will push for greater economic cooperation.
The visit to Pyongyang makes Moon the first South Korean leader in over a decade to visit North Korea after Roh Moo-hyun in 2007 and Kim Dae-jung in 2000. Moon will spend three days in North Korea and is expected to meet Kim at least twice.
Kim and Moon met for the first time in April on the South Korean side of Panmunjom village in the demilitarised zone of the two countries' border. They next met in a “impromptu” summit on the North Korean side of Panmunjom in late May.
(With agency inputs)
