N. Korean Leader Inspects Steel Firm

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il inspected a steel company in an apparent move to calm rumors of his failing health, Yonhap News reported quoting the North's news agency Thursday,

Kim "gave field guidance to the February General Steel Enterprise" in Jagang Province, the North's remote northern region, the Korean Central News Agency said, giving no date for the visit.

Just a day earlier, the agency said Kim had visited an electronics research center, a library and a pharmaceutical plant.

It was Kim's first serial inspections since rumors of his deteriorating health broke in mid-August.

"Noting that it is very important for building an economic power to develop the steel industry, he set forth the tasks to be fulfilled by the enterprise," the report said.

Seoul and Washington officials have said the 66-year-old Kim is recovering after undergoing brain surgery. Pyongyang's state media has since released photos of him touring military units, factories and a sporting event without specifying the dates on when they were taken.

The photos have not been effective in quelling speculation on Kim's health, with some showing traces of manipulation.

A French neurosurgeon who reportedly treated Kim in Pyongyang, Francois-Xavier Roux, was quoted as saying by French newspaper Le Figaro last week that Kim did in fact suffer a stroke but did not undergo surgery as was widely suspected, and that he is now in better condition. Roux visited Pyongyang at the end of October, the paper said.

Roux later recanted the report, saying he was misquoted.

Kim's health has been a subject of keen attention as he has not publicly nominated a successor. Kim, who took power after his father and North Korean founder Kim Il-sung died in 1994, is believed to have diabetes and heart problems.