Kim Jong-un departs for upcoming Hanoi summit with Trump

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un departed by train for Vietnam on Saturday for the upcoming second summit with United States President Donald Trump.

He boarded the train from Pyongyang Railway Station for the 60-hour journey, which will see the train travel around 4,500 kilometres to reach the Vietnamese border city of Dang Dong on Tuesday. Kim will then travel by car to Hanoi for the summit.

The North Korean leader is accompanied by several senior officials including his sister Kim Yo-jong and aide Kim Yong-chol, Yonhap News Agency quoted North Korea's state media as saying.

The second summit, slated to be held in Hanoi on February 27 and 28, comes after the first landmark US-North Korea summit was held in Singapore in June last year.

North Korea had agreed to completely denuclearise during the first meeting - a move which was hailed as a major stride by the international community. However, ties between the United States and Pyongyang hit a roadblock over ease of sanctions, where North Korea sought relief in economic sanctions as recognition of the steps taken towards denuclearisation. The United States has, until now, reinforced that relief in sanctions would only be given after North Korea carries out complete denuclearisation.

Both the sides aim at working towards the concretisation of steps for a peaceful Korean Peninsula, including complete denuclearisation, when Kim sits down with Trump in Hanoi this week.