SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Yonhap) -- The Mongolian president arrived in North Korea Monday to strengthen economic, social and cultural ties, the communist country's media said.
The Korean Central Television said President Tsakhia Elbegdorj's plane landed at Pyongyang's Sunan International Airport at 11:55 a.m. and was greeted by Kim Yong-nam, the president of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) Presidium and the North's ceremonial head of state.
It said the chief executive reviewed honor guards with Kim at the welcoming ceremony.
The arrival of the Mongolian president marks the first ever visit by a foreign head of state after Kim Jong-un took power upon the death of his father Kim Jong-il in late 2011.
If the incumbent leader holds a summit meeting with Elbegdorj, it will mark Kim's debut into the world of international diplomacy.
The paper, meanwhile, claimed that with the stature of the North rising within the international community, the visit will allow the two sides to advance common goals and ideals, it added.
The paper said Elbegdorj comes on the 25th anniversary of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung's second trip to the land-locked Asian country.
North Korea and Mongolia first normalized diplomatic relations in 1948. The North's founder then visited the country twice, in 1956 and 1988, while the secretary general of Mongolia's socialist party traveled to the country in 1958 and 1986.
Relations soured in 1999 after Ulaanbaatar supported South Korea's so-called Sunshine Policy, although relations improved after 2002.
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Source:Yonhap News agency
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