The North Korean leader, Mr Kim Jong-il, crossed into Russia yesterday and boarded a trans-Siberian train for a 10-day journey to Moscow, where he will hold a historic summit with the Russian President, Mr Vladimir Putin.
It is the first time Mr Kim has officially visited any country other than China.
The reclusive Stalinist dictator was welcomed at the Khasan border post in Russia's far east by Mr Putin's regional representative, Mr Konstantin Pulikovsky, who is to accompany the North Korean leader on his train journey.
"Mr Putin ordered me to travel with Mr Kim until we reach Moscow," Mr Pulikovsky said hours before the North Korean leader crossed the border, adding that Mr Kim would arrive in Moscow on August 4th or 5th.
The special armoured train pulled into Khasan at 8 a.m. on Wednesday where a young woman in a white costume handed him a bouquet of red flowers.
Speaking through a translator, Mr Kim inquired about Mr Putin's health.
"Thank you, he's in good health," Mr Pulikovsky answered in televised footage of the stopover.
Mr Kim, whose leisurely journey to Moscow will cover 9,500km, always travels by train because he is afraid of flying.
His father, North Korea's founder, the late Kim il-sung, made the same extended train journey in 1986 when on an official visit to Russia.
Russian news agencies said that the special train, 21 carriages long, was manned by North Korean attendants and doctors, although the drivers were Russian.
His train was scheduled to arrive at Khabarovsk at 12.30 a.m. yesterday.
No official programme was announced, but the Russian media speculated that Mr Kim might pay a visit to Vyatskoye, 80km from Khabarovsk where a North Korean battalion fighting in the Red Army during the second World War was based.
He may also visit the Siberian cities of Irkutsk and Novosibirsk as he travels to Moscow, officials added.
On Tuesday next week Mr Kim will arrive in Omsk, western Siberia, where he will stay overnight and visit two local enterprises, including a machine-building plant, Interfax news agency reported.
The landmark summit with Mr Putin, which will focus on bilateral ties and regional policy issues, was originally scheduled for April.
But it was delayed due to a dispute over Mr Kim's request for an aid package that included Russian weapons, according to media reports.
Mr Kim asked for new tanks, fighters and other advanced military equipment, the Yonhap news agency said, adding that North Korea also wanted Russia to send oil.
Reuters adds: Mr Kim said in an interview published by Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency yesterday that US fears over the threat posed by Pyongyang's missile programme were groundless.
"The American fuss over the `missile threat' from our country is completely groundless. It is no more than sophistry aimed at concealing the ambitions of those seeking to establish their global domination."