U.S. President Barack Obama made a landmark visit to Cuba on Sunday, bringing a climax to years of a reconciliation process with the former Cold War foe that American officials have urged North Korea to pay heed to.

Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their two daughters arrived in Havana for a three-day trip that represents the first visit to the communist nation by a sitting U.S. president in 88 years. Then-President Calvin Coolidge visited the country in 1928.

While in Cuba, Obama is scheduled to hold talks with Cuban President Raul Castro on Monday and attend a baseball game before leaving Tuesday. He is also expected to hold meetings with Cuban civic leaders, dissidents and human rights activists.

The trip marks the culmination of years of reconciliation efforts.

The United States cut off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 after Fidel Castro took power in a coup in 1959. The U.S. also imposed a trade embargo in 1960 and put the country on the list of terror sponsors in 1982 for supporting armed groups in Latin America.

But after 1 1/2 years of secret talks, the two countries announced in December 2014 they had agreed to restore relations.

Since then, the U.S. has lifted a series of restrictions on Cuba, including removing Cuba from its list of states sponsoring terrorism in May last year and restoring full diplomatic relations in July.

In Monday's talks, Obama and Castro are expected to discuss ways to move relations between the two countries further forward, including the issue of the 54-year-old economic embargo against Cuba. Obama has called for lifting it, but the Republican-led Congress has refused to do so.

U.S. officials said the warming of ties with Cuba shows a U.S. willingness to engage with adversaries.

"As my administration has shown with Iran and with Cuba, we are also prepared to engage nations with which we have had troubled histories," Obama said during a joint news conference after summit talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

"But Pyongyang needs to understand it will not achieve the economic development it seeks so long as it clings to nuclear weapons." (Yonhap)