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South Pyeongan Province. The North Korean media outlet that provided the photo said only that it was taken recently.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il conducted an inspection of the Chollima Steel Complex in South Pyeongan Province, North Korea’s Korean Central Television reported Thursday. This report comes four days after a report last Sunday that he inspected a pottery factory in the city of Huicheon, Jagang Province. The network did not announced the date of Kim’s inspection visit, as is customary.

In this visit, the North Korean leader emphasized that “it is the firm determination and will of the party and the people that the gate of a strong, prosperous nation will be thrown open by 2012,” the network reported. It also quoted Kim as saying that “there are now only four years remaining before opening the gate of a strong, prosperous nation, and even though we must overcome many obstacles and ordeals, as long as there is the support of the achievements of self-reliance (juche), equipped with the people’s creativity and new technology, victory is assured.”

Kim also said, “We must hasten the construction of a strong, prosperous nation by displaying an even more tenacious dignity of regeneration through our own efforts in the long days of the Arduous March, the forced march,” the network added.

The North Korean leader was accompanied on this inspection by Pak Nam-gi, vice director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, along with party committee secretary Ri Tae-nam and first-vice directors of the party’s Munitions Industry department Ju Gyu-chang and Ri Jae-il. The Chollima Steel Complex, North Korea’s leading steel factory, completed its “ultra-high power electric furnace” last October.

With this inspection, Kim Jong-il has appeared in public 94 times this year. An official at the Unification Ministry said, “There were 87 instances of ‘field guidance’ last year, so the frequency this year has gone up a bit.”

Following a military unit inspection August 14, no public activity from Kim was reported until his attendance at a soccer match on October 4, but prior to August 14 he had appeared in public 75 times, more than in the same period last year (49 times). The North Korean leader appeared in public 131 times in 2005 and 102 times in 2006.

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