North Korea's Kim inspects construction of key naval base

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected the construction of a naval base on the east coast of the country, state media KCNA said on Thursday.



Kim set out guidelines on deploying strategic assets and ordered stronger command and construction forces to speed up work on the naval port, KCNA said.

Kim also inspected more than 1,000 new residential quarters on the same day that were built in Thongchon County, Kangwon Province, near the construction site of a large-scale naval base, KCNA said in a separate report. It did not say whether that was the base Kim had inspected.



North Korea has accelerated efforts to modernise its navy under Kim, who has increasingly turned his focus to expanding "strategic assets" in key waters.