Kim Jong-un visits machinery plant amid alleged arms deal with Russia

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits the Ryongsong Machine Complex in Hamhung Province on Sunday. [KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has been frequenting the National Aerospace Technology Administration's Pyongyang General Control Center since the launching of the North's reconnaissance satellite last week, showed up at a machinery production plant.

Although the visit was reported as a routine inspection of the North Korean industrial sites, the machinery plants are speculated as arms production factories.

North Korea is accused by the South Korean and U.S. authorities of supplying arms not only to Russia but also to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

According to the North's state-run media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday, Kim visited the Ryongsong Machine Complex in Hamhung on Sunday.

The KCNA said that Kim expressed "great satisfaction" of the contribution that the workers, scientists and technicians were making in realizing its "Juche-oriented" or self-reliant economy through the production of "custom-built" equipment.

He said their work has "dealt a heavy blow to defeatism and mysticism about technology."

Kim ordered the "spirit" of the complex and its "heroic tradition of devotion" be implemented in its policies.

"He said that the whole country should learn from the spirit of advanced and fighting mettle mounting in Ryongsong," the KCNA said.

The Ryongsong Machine Complex is reported to supply major machinery for North Korean companies and mines.

Kim has reportedly increased his visits to major production sites since August when Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang.

That same month, Kim, during the party's Central Military Commission meeting, ordered the modernization of all of its plants to meet the military operation demand.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]