North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrives home after wrapping up his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, in Pyongyang, March 4. Yonhap

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is welcomed by officials after arriving in Pyongyang, March 4. Yonhap

North Korea's Kim Jong-un arrived home on Tuesday, state media said, completing his marathon journey through China after his Hanoi summit with US President Donald Trump ended without a nuclear deal.

Kim's return to Pyongyang marked the end of an epic 4,000-kilometre (2,500-mile) journey ― on board his olive green armoured train ― from Vietnam, where his much-hyped second summit with Trump came to an abrupt halt last week.

His talks with the US leader were followed by an official visit to Vietnam, with Kim paying tribute to the country's late revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.

"Kim Jong Un... arrived at home on Tuesday after successfully wrapping up his official goodwill visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," according to the official KCNA news agency.

"At 3 o'clock in the early morning, his train entered the railway station yard" in Pyongyang, KCNA said, adding that senior officials "greeted him with their ardent congratulations".

A smiling Kim boarded his train at the Dong Dang border station in Vietnam on Saturday, waving to crowds at the station. His route through China was not known, nor was it clear whether he would stop to meet President Xi Jinping along the journey ― although it now appears that he did not.