North Korea's economic focus grows ahead of U.S, South Korea summit

May 19 (UPI) -- North Korea is turning its attention to the economy ahead of the first U.S.-South Korea summit under President Joe Biden.

Pyongyang's state-controlled news agency KCNA reported Wednesday that Premier Kim Tok Hun provided field guidance at Sunchon Cement Complex and inspected a chemical plant under construction.

Earlier Sunday, Kim reportedly visited Tanchon Power Station No. 5 and the Hungnam Fertilizer Complex. Last week, Kim visited Samjiyon City, a new development that includes apartments, hotels and a ski resort. He "encouraged" workers at Samjiyon, state media said.

Kim's tour of North Korean facilities also was featured on the first page of Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun. State media coverage appears to be a follow-up measure to Kim Jong Un's orders to rebuild the economy, and his policy of placing his Cabinet at the center of "economic command," according to analysis from South Korean newspaper Segye Ilbo on Wednesday.

"After the Eighth Party Congress, thousands of young men and women nationwide participated in projects in socialist rural areas and major sectors of the people's economy, including metals, coal, and mining and industrial sectors," the Rodong said Wednesday.

Pyongyang is believed to have confirmed receipt of a U.S. proposal for talks ahead of the U.S.-South Korea summit, but has maintained silence on matters of foreign policy. The United States has said it would commit to a "more calibrated, practical, measured approach" toward North Korea.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has supported diplomatic engagement between Washington and Pyongyang. The Biden administration has shown a willingness to take on a "flexible, gradual and practical approach" to North Korea, Moon has said.

Kurt Campbell, Biden's policy coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, said Tuesday in an interview with Yonhap that the United States will "build" on a U.S.-North Korea declaration made in Singapore in 2018.

The statement called for "new U.S.-North Korea relations" and efforts to "build a lasting and stable peace regime" on the Korean Peninsula.

"Our policy towards North Korea is not aimed at hostility," Campbell said.