N. Korean leader visits hydraulic power station under construction

SEOUL, March 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il gave field guidance
at a construction site for a hydraulic power station, the country's state media
said Thursday.
Kim visited the site of the dam at Huichon Power Station in Jagang Province, a
remote region in the country's western half, where "one can hear only the flow of
water now," said the Korean Central News Agency.
"Only when the problem of electricity is solved on a priority basis, is it
possible to definitely boost such pilot sectors of the national economy as metal
industry, coal industry and railway transport... for building an economic power,"
Kim was quoted as saying by the report.
Kim expressed conviction that the power station would be completed by 2012, an
important year for North Korea as a target date by which it seeks to rebuild its
frail economy, the report said. The year also marks the 100th anniversary of the
birth of Kim's father and North Korean founder Kim Il-sung.
North Korea's economy was a mere 2.8 percent of South Korea's in terms of gross
national income in 2007, according to South Korea's central bank.
The country also suffers from a chronic energy shortage. Nations in the region
involved in the six-party nuclear talks have delivered some 70 percent of the 1
million tons of fuel oil to North Korea in return for disabling its nuclear
facility under a 2007 deal. The remaining amount will likely remain suspended,
however, as Japan refuses to provide its share in protest over Japanese citizens
abducted by North Korea in past decades.
Kim, 67, has more than tripled his public activities this year, despite lingering
questions about his health. The leader is generally believed to have considerably
recuperated after suffering a stroke last August, but recent photos showed a much
slimmer Kim, with little trace of his trademark potbelly.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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