N. Korea says Kim Jong-il inspected air force unit

The dispatch is the latest from Pyongyang in recent weeks portraying Kim as busy and active. South Korean and U.S. officials say Kim, 66, suffered a stroke in August. North Korea, however, denies he was ever ill.

Kim toured air force facilities and observed training, accompanied by Col. Gen. Ri Pyong-chol, commander of the air force, and military officials from Unit 1016, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a report monitored in Seoul.

The report did not say exactly where or when Kim’s visit took place.

Kim urged the airmen to “boost the combat capability of the unit,” saying they must remain vigilant “to cope with the enemies’ moves for aggression,” the report said.

He praised the soldiers for their diligence and underscored “the need to pay primary attention to the ideological work to prepare all of them as human bombs and self blasting heroes,” KCNA said.

Kim also toured educational and cultural facilities, and spent time visiting the unit’s sleeping quarters, mess hall and kitchen, the report said. The leader also posed with the unit for photos, KCNA said.

North Korea has not released any photos from the visit, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, which monitors the North’s state-run media, said late Sunday.

The KCNA dispatch comes at a time of rising tensions between the two Koreas. Relations have soured since conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February pledging to be firm with nuclear-armed North Korea.

The North has moved to break off ties with the South since Lee’s inauguration. North Korea announced last week that traffic through the North-South border would be severely restricted starting Monday, with popular tours to the border city of Kaesong halted and the number of South Koreans allowed into the North to work at a joint industrial park cut by more than half.

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