The bus accident occurred Sunday, leaving 32 Chinese tourists dead and two seriously injured. Four North Koreans also died.

"(Kim) said that he and the Party and Government are poignantly feeling the responsibility for the accident," the KCNA reported, adding that Kim went to Pyongyang Railway Station on Wednesday night to see off the train.

The North's leader "once again expressed deep condolences and apology to the bereaved families of the victims," it added.

The report said that Kim has ordered officials to thoroughly investigate the accident and will take strong measures to prevent the recurrence of such a tragedy.

Kim has conducted rare public activities over the latest accident in an apparent effort to prevent it from hindering budding signs of an improvement in North Korea-China relations.

He made his first visit to China's Embassy in Pyongyang Monday to express condolences over the deaths and went to a hospital where the injured were treated.

China, North Korea's only remaining ally and economic lifeline, had seen its ties with the North strained due to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile provocations.

But their ties have begun to improve since Kim held a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Beijing in late March ahead of his planned meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump. (Yonhap)