Kim Jong-un calls on nation to catch up with "global trends"

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called on the reclusive communist state to try to catch up with "global trends" in upgrading the country's industries, amid rumors the young Swiss-educated leader could institute economic reforms.

North Korea's late leader Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un's father, was rarely reported to be talking about global trends, instead focusing on "juche," or self-reliance ideology.

Kim Jong-un, believed to be in his late 20s, ascended to power in December, when his father died of a heart attack after a 17-year iron-fist rule of the impoverished state with nuclear ambitions.

North Korean media reported Thursday that Kim Jong-un had visited Sunan Airport in Pyongyang and said, "It is a global trend for an airport to serve as a satellite city."

On July 3, the North Korean leader also told workers at a sock factory in Pyongyang that they need to "develop colors, designs and emblems in tandem with global trends," according to North Korean media.

Kim Jong-un also visited a cancer research center in Pyongyang on July 1 to deliver his resolution to "upgrade the center to global standards."

In another incident, Kim Jong-un told a group of officials of the North Korean government and the ruling Workers' Party in April that they need to "accept global development trends and advanced technologies in land management and environment protection."

Some say the new North Korean leader might try to bring about substantial reform and openness in view of his experience at a school in Switzerland as a child.

"Kim Jong-un, who has experience in the international community, appears to be showing his willingness to catch up with global trends," said Chang Yong-seok, a researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies, Seoul National University. "This kind of movement is mainly limited to the science and technology sector, but any widening of contacts between North Korea and the international community might have an adverse impact on the North's overall systems." (Yonhap)