Kim Jong-il conducts about 200 field guidance tours this year: KCNA

SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il conducted about 200
field guidance tours of local farms and military camps this year, the communist
nation's state media said Saturday, marking the highest number of public
appearances he has made since coming to power.
Kim "conducted field guidance at as many as 200 places across the country,"
reported the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"It was a hard work unprecedented in the history and a partisan long march," the
KCNA said, adding that the increased appearances indicated that Kim strove to
solve issues pertaining to the people's livelihoods.
The South Korean Unification Ministry said earlier in the month that the North
Korean leader made 156 such trips as of Dec. 18, based on the North's media
reports.
The figure is the highest since Kim took over leadership in 1998 from his late
father, Kim Il-sung, and almost double his 90 public activities of last year, the
ministry said.
Kim is widely believed to have had a stroke in August last year.
The communist leader usually gives field guidance at factories, farms and
military camps to highlight his leadership and policies.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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