Kim Jong Un provides field guidance at North Korea's first ski resort

SEOUL, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- North Korea's Kim Jong Un provided field guidance in a county known for its tourist attractions, including the country's first ski resort.

The visit comes at a time when North Korea has eased travel restrictions for tourists with Chinese passports, who have been allowed to visit without documentation for half-day tours since July.

According to Pyongyang's state-controlled news agency KCNA, Kim gave instructions on the modernization of an airport in Samjiyon County and visited young North Korean athletes in training.

"Comrade Kim Jong Un provided on-the-spot guidance for various operations in Samjiyon," KCNA stated Monday.

During his trip Kim also made references to his father, former leader Kim Jong Il.

"The snow is falling, like the day when the general [Kim Jong Il] parted forever in the midst of tears, our general, how much he would have liked to have seen the miracles being created on this land that he loved as much as his own kin," the North Korean leader said, according to KCNA.

Kim visited the Samjiyon County Cultural Center that he ordered rebuilt in November 2013, met with students at Samjiyon Children's Palace and watched the training of young skiers on the Sajabong Sports Team.

Skiing has been promoted by Pyongyang as a popular activity in the county, in a bid to raise the country's profile as a tourist destination and raise hard currency for the regime.

To that end North Korea has been easing travel restrictions for Chinese nationals, which in turn has increased the number of Chinese visiting the country in recent months, according to the South China Morning Post.

Chinese tourists are permitted to visit Pyongyang, Sinuiju, Kaesong and the North Korean border city of Rason.

Visitors on half-day tours do not need passports, according to the report.

About 90 percent of tourists to North Korea were Chinese in 2015, the report says.