Pak Thae Song, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and premier of the DPRK Cabinet, made a field survey of various sectors in North and South Hamgyong provinces.

At the Ryongsong Machine Complex, a leading machine-building base of the country, the premier called upon its officials, technicians and workers to unconditionally attain the modernization goal set for this year, true to the intention of the Party to turn the complex into a model of the machine-building industry, and make fresh innovations in the production of major custom-built equipment by waging a dynamic drive for increased production as befitting the creator of the Chollima spirit in the new era.

He stressed the need to steadily update the performance of equipment by regarding science and technology as the main link in the chain of increasing production and thus improve the precision of processing and assembling of products and the quality of castings.

At the Hungnam Fertilizer Complex and the February 8 Vinalon Complex, the premier called for boosting the productivity of fertilizer and basic chemical products by making effective use of the existing capacity and positively pushing forward the work for establishing the production capacity of slow effective fertilizer and perfecting the production process of melamine resin to contribute to increasing the agricultural production and improving the people's living standards.

Going round the Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex, he stressed the need to increase the Juche iron production by raising the operation rate of the energy-saving oxygen blast furnace to increase the number of charges per day and the amount of molten iron per charge, and to actively conduct a mass technical innovation movement for reducing the fuel consumption.

He learned in detail about the production and the implementation of the plan for readjustment and reinforcement at the Chongjin Steel Plant and the Chongjin Chemical Fibre Mill. And he stressed the need to ensure proper process-by-process engagement and introduce rational production methods so as to turn out much more quality Samhwa iron and fibre goods.

Field consultative meetings discussed the issue of intensifying the research for reducing the standard of material consumption per unit and improving the quality of steel and fireproof materials, the issue of ensuring enterprise and business management on a scientific basis in conformity with the actual conditions of relevant units and the issue for relevant units to supply enough raw and other materials in time.

Earlier, the premier learned about the trial operation of a new-type tube train at the metro line in Pyongyang. He stressed the need to rectify the shortcomings as soon as possible so as to ensure the safety of traffic and the convenience of passengers in a perfect way and to standardize various kinds of parts, accessories and materials and establish a strict quality inspection system.