North Korea releases photos of Kim inspecting factories

North Korea releases photos of Kim inspecting factories (NSI News Source Info) November 25, 2008: North Korea's state media released photos on Tuesday of leader Kim Jong-il visiting two factories, in the latest attempt to stave off international speculation over Kim's health. The North has released a series of photos of the leader in recent weeks, usually without specifying a date or location. Kim, 66, is widely believed to be incapacitated after suffering a stroke in August. North Korea's official Central News Agency said the leader visited a machine-building plant and a cosmetics factory. "General Secretary Kim Jong Il provided field guidance to the Rakwon Machine Complex and the Soap Shop of the Sinuiju Cosmetics Factory," the report said. He is shown in the two photos in his trademark sunglasses, looking healthy. The leader reportedly congratulated Rakwon factory workers on "successfully carrying out the complex's assignments for this year as of the end of October," implying that the photo was taken earlier this month. The state of Kim's health has caused widespread alarm, as he has not named a successor to lead the communist state, which has the world's fourth-largest army and carried out a nuclear-bomb test in 2006. The news of the North Korean leader comes a day after the country announced that cross-border movement with the South would be restricted as of December 1, the rail link to the Kaesong industrial park just inside the North closed, and some South Koreans working at the complex expelled. The North Korean military said in a statement carried by state media that the measures were in retaliation to the hostile stance of the South Korean leadership, and Seoul's failure to honor summit agreements reached in 2000 and 2007. Pyongyang has stopped short of closing down the Kaesong complex, which brings the impoverished communist state tens of millions of dollars in income per year. North-South relations have deteriorated since President Lee Myung-bak came to power in South Korea in February. The new president has demanded more progress in the North's denuclearization in return for the economic support provided by the South.