The Olympic flame arrived in North Korea early Monday for the first torch relay in the country to be held later in the day.

The torch arrived at Pyongyang's international airport after midnight on a plane from the South Korean capital of Seoul. It was met by crowds of Koreans as well as Chinese living in North Korea waving flags of the two countries.

Pyongyang has been gearing up for the relay, holding on Sunday a rehearsal of the opening ceremony that will take place from 10 a.m. Monday in front of the Tower of the Juche Idea in the central part of the city.

"I am very honored to have been chosen for this at my advanced age," Pak Tu Ik, the 71-year-old first runner who was at the ceremony rehearsal, said Sunday morning.

Pak is a North Korean sports hero who was a key member of the country's soccer team that advanced into the 1966 World Cup quarter finals.

The torch relay in other parts of the world has been marked by scuffles between security officials and protestors against China's policies over issues ranging from Tibet to Sudan to press freedoms.

In Seoul on Sunday, Chinese students clashed with anti-Beijing demonstrators during the torch relay through the South Korean capital. Some 8,300 police officers were deployed across the city to guard the torch.

But an orderly, smooth run was all but guaranteed in the controlled North Korean capital, where the flame was likely to be met by cheering crowds.

"I am confident of the success" of the torch relay, Ri Jong Sok, vice president of the Pyongyang committee organizing the relay, told reporters on Sunday.

Ri said last week that "hundreds of thousands" are expected to turn out to cheer the flame with Chinese, North Korean and Olympic flags in their hands.

North Korea is known to dispatch thousands of its citizens to the streets to welcome some state guests, cheering them and waving pink plastic flowers as their motorcades pass by.

On Sunday, blue and orange banners reading, "Beijing 2008," were hung on both sides of the torch relay route. Similar banners were put up in clusters in street corners.

The torch will be carried along a 20-kilometer route that will include major sites such as the Arch of Triumph, the Chollima Statue and the Kim Il Sung Square, before reaching the Kim Il Sung Stadium at around 3 p.m. for a closing ceremony.

The Olympic flame will be taken to Vietnam after North Korea. After Vietnam, the torch will travel through Hong Kong and Macao before the final leg of the relay in mainland China.