N. Korea's premier tours economic facilities to boost production

By Kim Kwang-tae SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's premier toured economic facilities, Pyongyang's media reported Wednesday, as his country is struggling to recover from heavy damages from recent typhoons and heavy downpours. Premier Choe Yong-rim visited an exhibition of consumer goods, an electric wire factory, a thermal power plant and other industrial facilities from August 6 to 10, the Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch. He also held meetings with officials to discuss measures to boost the production of consumer goods, supply sufficient quantities of fuel for people as well as increase the production of electric wire, the dispatch said. The trip comes as the North is working to recover from devastating floods in the recent past that left dozens of people dead, injured or missing, while destroying thousands of homes and submerging or washing away tens of thousands of hectares of farmland. The damage is feared to threaten the already fragile food situation in the North. The country vows to build a prosperous and powerful nation next year, the centennial of the birth of the country's late founder and president, Kim Il-sung, the father of current leader Kim Jong-il.