North Korean leader inspects sapling farm to highlight importance of forests

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects in the state's eastern region, according to its media Tuesday. Yonhap

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a sapling farm in the country's eastern region in an apparent bid to highlight the importance of forests, the state media reported Tuesday.

Kim gave a "field guidance" at the sapling farm in Kangwon Province, accompanied by senior ruling party members, including Hwang Pyong-so, Han Kwang-sang and Jo Yong-won, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

This marks the first reported outing by Kim in seven days. He was reported to have visited the same sampling farm in 2015 and 2016.

Kim lavished praise on workers there for building the farm that can produce some 20 million seedlings a year in a short period of time and address problems that could arise in the process of managing such a large-scale facility, the KCNA said.

His trip to the farm is seen in line with North Korea's stepped-up push for reforestation of the country by improving sapling cultivation techniques and planting more trees.

North Korea earlier agreed with South Korea to cooperate in protecting their forests along the inter-Korean border and other areas from damage caused by harmful insects.

The two Koreas also promised to discuss how to modernize sapling cultivation, prevent forest fires, and exchange methods to protect and grow forests. (Yonhap)