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SEOUL, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Kim Jong Un visited a military-run fishery station for the second time in recent days, according to North Korea state media. Kim's field guidance at the August 25 Fishery Station comes at a time when Pyongyang has not stopped sending forced laborers overseas to earn foreign currency for the regime.
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The visit is a sign Kim wants to maintain a public focus on economic growth.
According to state-controlled news agency KCNA, Kim said he was pleased to see production areas "filled with fish" after inspecting storage conditions and fishing stations.
After surveying the freezers, Kim said he was "truly happy" to see areas "bursting at the seams with fish."
"By enhancing the mechanization of food processing, let us supply the soldiers and the people with fresh fish," Kim said.
The North Korean leader also said that he felt his "mood uplifted" after inhaling the aroma of fish at the plant, according to state media.
Kim's visit to a fishing ground is the second he has made in recent days.
According to state media on Nov. 17, Kim inspected the May 27 Fishery Station.
KCNA has stated fisheries have exceeded their annual quota by 147 percent in the last 20 days when the army caught 90,000 tons of fish.
That statistic, however, has yet to be verified by outside sources.
North Korea is under heavy sanctions, but bans haven't stopped Kim from sending more forced laborers overseas.
There are more than 100,000 North Korean workers, many of them working in substandard conditions, including about 30,000 in Russia, according to Yonhap.
The lack of safety regulations continues to take a toll on their lives.
According to Russia's TASS news agency, a North Korea worker died Saturday after he was flattened under a concrete wall that collapsed on him in an area northwest of Moscow.
Two others were injured, according to the report.
