SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected the construction site for a regional hospital, reprimanding the country's poor construction capacity and ordering a prompt qualitative improvement, state media said Tuesday.
Kim gave the instruction during a visit to Kusong City Hospital in North Phyongan Province the previous day, where he inspected the construction progress, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Kusong is one of three regions Kim selected in February to host exemplary hospitals as part of his broader order to build regional hospitals in 20 cities and counties annually starting next year, aimed at improving convenience for local residents.
Last week, Kim inspected a hospital construction site in Kangdong County, just outside Pyongyang, which is also one of the three regions selected for the pilot hospital project.
Many military personnel are currently being mobilized to large construction sites, but the "efficiency of using the workforce is not ensured at the up-to-the-standard level due to the non-specialization and inexperience in the organization and command of construction," the KCNA quoted him as saying.
Kim also called for "a rapid state measure" to achieve a "qualitative strengthening" of the construction workforce, particularly through the training of skilled workers.
He issued an order to organize an "intensive short course" to improve the construction capacity at all levels, establish a firm specializing in medical equipment assembly, increase the role of machinery in construction and modernize construction equipment, according to the KCNA.
Accompanying Kim to the construction site Monday were Jo Yong-won and Ri Hi-yong, both secretaries of the party's Central Committee, as well as other party officials.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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