| Oh boy, more great juche guidance! |
SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-il said science and technology are the powerful engine driving the construction of a strong nation during his latest trip to a semiconductor factory and a science academy, state media reported Wednesday.
Kim gave "field guidance" to the Hamhung Semiconductor Materials Factory and the Hamhung Branch of the State Academy of Sciences, both in Hamhung in the northern province of North Hamgyong, said the reports without giving a date for the visit.
Kim expressed "great satisfaction over the fact that they laid solid material and technical foundations of the factory by fully displaying the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance and are mass-producing quality semiconductor materials, the Korean Central News Agency said.
Kim has made nearly 80 field trips this year, compared to about 50 last year. By traveling nationwide so often, Kim, 67, who reportedly had a stroke in August last year, appears to be trying to demonstrate he is fully in charge of the country, Seoul's Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said earlier this week.
Recent photos showed Kim wearing sneakers on rough road trips or flat dress shoes in farms and factories, instead of his signature platform shoes he used to wear before the reported stroke to add height to his stature.
Kim "warmly encouraged the workers there in their dynamic 150-day campaign," the report said, referring to the North's labor mobilization project that started in late April. "Our science and technology can serve as a powerful engine for the revolution and construction and provide a scientific and technological guarantee for building a great prosperous and powerful nation only when they are closely combined with production," Kim was quoted as saying at the science school.
Kim was accompanied by Workers' Party department directors including his Jang Song-thaek, his brother-in-law believed to be the de-facto No. 2 figure in the country overseeing state affairs on behalf of the aging leader. Jang, married to Kim's younger sister Kim Kyong-hui, reportedly plays a key role in grooming the leader's third and youngest son, Jong-un, as the successor.