ID :
52940
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 18:27
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/52940
The shortlink copeid
N. Korean paper urges citizens to follow leader on economic drive
SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's main newspaper on Monday called on
citizens to follow leader Kim Jong-il, saying the leader has been struggling for
the country's economic drive despite concerns about his health.
Kim, who allegedly suffered a stroke last August, has more than tripled his
public tours this year, making 44 visits as of Monday, compared to 12 during the
same period last year. Some 20 of those visits were to economic facilities in a
sign of the country's stepped-up campaign to rebuild its sickly economy,
according to Seoul's Unification Ministry monitoring the North's state media.
North Korea has set 2012, the 100th birth anniversary of Kim's father and the
country's founder Kim Il-sung, as the target year for achieving a "great,
prosperous and powerful socialist nation" that is self-sufficient in food and
equipped with industrial infrastructure.
"This year is a pivotal year that will become a watershed in achieving our
party's grand plan," the Rodong Sinmun, published by the North's Workers' Party,
said in an editorial.
"All workers should live in the spirit of our great general who has set himself a
hard schedule and should become men of action in the era of a great surge," it
said.
The editorial did not directly mention Kim's health, but concerns were voiced in
the same paper on Saturday. It quoted Kim, 67, as saying, "Comrades worry about
my health as I am about to make another fiend guidance trip, but it is my
pleasure to walk on the rough road for our homeland and for our people."
Monday's editorial also emphasized science technology, saying it is paramount to
the country's economic drive. But it did not mention the country's satellite
launch set for April 4-8, which Pyongyang says is part of its space development
program but the U.S. and South Korea suspect is a cover for a long-range missile
test.
Unification Ministry spokesperson Lee Jong-joo said "no unusual activity yet" has
been spotted in North Korea.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
citizens to follow leader Kim Jong-il, saying the leader has been struggling for
the country's economic drive despite concerns about his health.
Kim, who allegedly suffered a stroke last August, has more than tripled his
public tours this year, making 44 visits as of Monday, compared to 12 during the
same period last year. Some 20 of those visits were to economic facilities in a
sign of the country's stepped-up campaign to rebuild its sickly economy,
according to Seoul's Unification Ministry monitoring the North's state media.
North Korea has set 2012, the 100th birth anniversary of Kim's father and the
country's founder Kim Il-sung, as the target year for achieving a "great,
prosperous and powerful socialist nation" that is self-sufficient in food and
equipped with industrial infrastructure.
"This year is a pivotal year that will become a watershed in achieving our
party's grand plan," the Rodong Sinmun, published by the North's Workers' Party,
said in an editorial.
"All workers should live in the spirit of our great general who has set himself a
hard schedule and should become men of action in the era of a great surge," it
said.
The editorial did not directly mention Kim's health, but concerns were voiced in
the same paper on Saturday. It quoted Kim, 67, as saying, "Comrades worry about
my health as I am about to make another fiend guidance trip, but it is my
pleasure to walk on the rough road for our homeland and for our people."
Monday's editorial also emphasized science technology, saying it is paramount to
the country's economic drive. But it did not mention the country's satellite
launch set for April 4-8, which Pyongyang says is part of its space development
program but the U.S. and South Korea suspect is a cover for a long-range missile
test.
Unification Ministry spokesperson Lee Jong-joo said "no unusual activity yet" has
been spotted in North Korea.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
