North Korea Says Progress Made in Vast Reclamation Site

SEOUL (Yonhap) - North Korea, whose mountainous terrain lacks enough arable land, showed progress in one of its vast nature reclamation projects of damming the sea in a northwest area, a North's state-run radio broadcaster said on Sept. 4.

The (North) Korean Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) said the workers of the
North Pyongan Provincial Tideland Reclamation have accomplished the construction
of the No. 1 dyke at a reclamation site on Taegye islet, following the completion
of the No. 2 and 4 dykes in July last year. Only No. 3 is left to be constructed
now in the whole tideland area.

Such great work was due to the encouragement of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il,
who gave field guidance last June for the large-scale reclamation of 8,700 ha of
tideland, including areas in the counties of Cholsan, Sonchon and Kwaksan, the
KCBS said.

Kim then said, "In order to satisfactorily settle the food problem, it is
necessary to make the best use of the existing cultivated land and, at the same
time, obtain more areas of new land."

The dykes of Taegye islet were destroyed by a tsunami in 1997, and the
restoration work has been ongoing ever since.

The Management Bureau of the North Pyongan Provincial Tideland Reclamation has
reclaimed many tidelands, including those on Tasa Islet and Pidan Islet.

Another feat for reclamation touted by the North is the Kumsong Upturned Tideland
of 1,300 ha in South Pyongan Province, which was completed by youth workers in
2005.