N. Korean leader visits ceramic plant

SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il has recently paid a visit to a ceramic factory, the North's official news agency reported Sunday, in the latest of a series of trips to military and public facilities following a stroke he suffered earlier in the year.
In an apparent move to silence rumors about Kim's health, the communist nation
has released a string of pictures showing the leader inspecting various
facilities. The awkward positioning of Kim's left hand in the images, however,
has renewed suspicion that Kim may be suffering from the aftereffects of the
stroke he reportedly suffered in August.
Sunday's report by the communist nation's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) is
also being viewed as an attempt to show that Kim is very much alive and in
control of his state.
"After viewing various kinds of pottery produced by the factory, he expressed
great satisfaction over the fact that the factory has sharply increased the
production of pottery and markedly improved its quality in the span of one year,"
the KCNA report said without revealing the timing of the trip.
"Glorify this year of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the DPRK as a
historical turn which will go down in the annals of the country," the North
Korean leader was quoted as saying during the inspection, referring to his
country by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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