North Korean leader calls for regions' efforts for independent development

Seoul, Nov 26 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited an offshore fishing farm under construction in the eastern port city of Sinpho, calling for regions to use their own natural and economic resources in a bid to develop themselves independently, state media reported on Tuesday.

The North's leader made the remarks during his visit to the Sinpho City Offshore Farm under construction in South Hamgyong Province, local media said, without disclosing the date of his inspection.

During a visit to the construction site of the farm in July, Kim ordered a new model of offshore farming to be built that mobilises the resources of the sea effectively as part of efforts to develop backward regions, reports Yonhap, quoting the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The North's leader called for regions to secure the "motive force of regional economic development by fully exploiting various resources and natural and geographical environments," as the move represents an important share of the country's key regional development policy, according to the media reports.

"He repeatedly stressed the need to help all regions lay the foundations for developing independently by effectively developing and using their own natural and economic resources," it said.

Kim also called for the successful completion of the project before next month's plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

For the Sinpho farm, around 70 per cent of the construction has been completed, with scallops and kelp being farmed on a trial basis, the media reports said.

In January, Kim set forth a project to build modernised factories in 20 cities and counties over the next decade to enhance the living standards of the people. The move is seen as being intended to ease the worsening public sentiment amid deepening economic difficulties.

Source: IANS