Posted on 02/24/2009 10:20:35 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
(LEAD) N. Korean leader visits country's northeast, near launch site
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has given field guidance to various facilities in the country's northeast, state media said Wednesday, as he appeared to be touring a province where rocket launch preparations are underway.
It was not known whether Kim arranged his visit to North Hamgyong Province with regard to the preparations. A Seoul spokesman said Kim makes a nationwide tour at the beginning of every year.
North Korea said on Tuesday that it will set off a "communications satellite" from its launch site in Hwadae County while Kim has reportedly been visiting other towns in North Hamgyong since last weekend. Hoeryong, a town bordering China that Kim was said to have toured in Wednesday's report, is located opposite the launch base in the same province.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the leader started his itinerary at the birthplace of his late mother, Kim Jong-suk, who died in 1949 when he was seven.
"Time flies, one generation is replaced by another," he was quoted as saying as he emphasized that greater efforts should be made to educate the people on the country's revolutionary traditions.
Kim also visited the Hoeryong Essential Foodstuff Factory and Hoeryong Taesong Cigarette Factory, whose products are supplied to soldiers in the region, and the Hoeryong Branch of the Central Bank and the Honored Thrice Red Flag Kim Ki Song Hoeryong Middle School No. 1, the KCNA said.
The report did not mention the planned rocket launch. Seoul's Unification Ministry could not say whether Kim's extensive trip is related to the launch or just part of his regular public activity, as he has sharply increased nationwide inspection tours this year. Kim is believed to have considerably recovered since his reported stroke last August.
"It seems to be certain that Kim is now well enough, but we don't know whether he visited there to encourage industrial production or if his visit is related to the missile launch," ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said.
Seoul officials have expressed concern over the North's latest moves, saying it would be a violation of U.N. resolutions adopted after the North's missile and nuclear tests in 2006. Putting a satellite into orbit involves technology development also used in advancing long-range missile systems, experts say.
Seoul expects the North will be ready to launch the "Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite" in a week or two.
Wednesday's KCNA report said the leader was accompanied by Workers' Party senior officials including department directors of the party's central committee Pak Nam-gi and Jang Song-thaek, Kim's brother-in-law.
Kim Ki-nam, secretary of the party's central committee, and Hong Sok-hyong, chief secretary of the party's North Hamgyong provincial committee, also accompanied the North Korean leader.
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