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North Korea has a new forestry machine factory, state media says

By Elizabeth Shim
Kim Song Jun, a senior official of North Korea's environmental protection ministry, meets with South Koreans in October 2018, in Kaesong, North Korea. The two Koreas conducted forestry-related exchange in 2018. File Photo by Yonhap/EPA-EFE
Kim Song Jun, a senior official of North Korea's environmental protection ministry, meets with South Koreans in October 2018, in Kaesong, North Korea. The two Koreas conducted forestry-related exchange in 2018. File Photo by Yonhap/EPA-EFE

SEOUL, March 26 (UPI) -- North Korea has completed a forest equipment-manufacturing plant, according to state media.

Pyongyang's state-controlled news agency KCNA reported Tuesday the regime's land ministry completed a new forestry machine factory in the North Korean capital.

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"The factory will guarantee the production of forestry equipment for the forest management sector of each province, city and county," KCNA said.

North Korea's environment deteriorated significantly during the famine of the 1990s. Under the threat of starvation, ordinary North Koreans turned to forests for firewood and food; defectors have said people sometimes ate tree bark for sustenance.

Deforestation is a problem the North has sometimes addressed with outside help. In 2018, Seoul's Korea Forest Service made multiple visits to the North to assist North Koreans with pest control, or to visit sites.

Yonhap reported Tuesday the factory KCNA mentioned is the same site Lim Sang-seo, the forest industry policy director at the Korea Forest Service, visited in December. Lim visited the factory as it neared completion.

South Korea has been seeking sanctions exemptions for forestry-related visits and assistance, according to Yonhap.

Seoul has not modified its policies on civic and humanitarian exchange since the collapse of the U.S.-North Korea summit in February.

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Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in Seoul Tuesday recent developments could call for a different strategy however, Yonhap reported.

Ban, who once considered running for president in the South, said he doesn't differ from President Moon Jae-in in goals and policies, but a more "realistic approach" on North Korea is needed.

Given North Korea nuclear negotiations have reached a deadlock, the South Korean government, having already held three summits with the North, should "take a deep breath and think deeply" before taking the next step, Ban said.

Ban also said while he does not oppose North-South economic exchange, steps should be taken while considering the international community's position, including that of the United States.

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