South Korea’s President Roh Moo-hyun on Tuesday arrived in the capital of hermit North Korea to cheering crowds and an unsmiling leader Kim Jong-il for only the second summit between Cold War-era foes who remain technically at war.

Roh Moo-hyun has billed his first trip to the communist North as a chance to end animosity born with the partition of the Korean peninsula at the end of WW II. But his critics say the visit is aimed more at domestic politics and expect him to tiptoe around the sensitive issues of nuclear weapons and mass human rights abuses.

North Koreanswaved pink and red plastic flowers and cheered on cue when Kim arrived at a main square in Pyongyang, repeating the greeting minutes later as Roh stepped out of an open car supplied by North Korea.

A portly Kim, in his trademark drab zip-up jacket and wearing platform shoes that made him appear taller than the dark-suited Roh, shook hands unsmilingly with the South Korean leader and his wife.

The two shared greetings of “nice to meet you” and then barely spoke to each other, pool reports from Pyongyang said. The pair reviewed a military guard of honour.

The meeting comes against a backdrop of regional negotiations to persuade the North to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions in return for massive aid and an end to its status as an international pariah.

With just five months left in office, Roh has said he wanted to use the summit to press for peace and eventual arms reductions on the peninsula where some 2 million troops face off, most of them near the border.

“The visit also helps Kim Jong-il’s legitimacy. By agreeing to again go North, South Korean leaders help play to the (North’s) domestic image of Kim Jong-il as the ‘real’ Korean emperor, with Roh (gifts in hand) being seen as playing a tributary visit,’’ said Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum CSIS think tank.