North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, center, conducts an on-site inspection at a ceramic plant in Jagangdo in this undated image, released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, Sunday. / Yonhap |
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has recently paid a visit to a ceramic factory, the sixth in a series of trips to military and public facilities following a stroke he suffered earlier in the year, the North's official news agency reported Sunday, in an apparent move to silence rumors about Kim's health. The communist nation has released a string of pictures showing the leader inspecting various facilities, according to Yonhap News Agency. The awkward positioning of Kim's left hand in the images, however, has renewed suspicion that he may be suffering from the aftereffects of the stroke he reportedly suffered in August.
Sunday's report by the communist nation's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is also being viewed as an attempt to show that Kim is very much alive and in control of his state, Yonhap said.
Without revealing the timing of the trip, the KCNA report said, "After viewing various kinds of pottery produced by the factory, he expressed great satisfaction over the fact that the factory has sharply increased production and markedly improved its quality in the span of one year," according to Yonhap.
"Glorify this year of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the DPRK as a historical turn which will go down in the annals of the country," the North Korean leader was quoted as saying during the inspection, referring to his country by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
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무디스, 스페인·伊·포르투갈 신용등급 강등
