Top leader tours zoo in Pyongyang

Kim Jong-il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), went to the Pyongyang zoo and visited the tigers, bears and aquarium, state-run media said yesterday, the latest in a spate of reports depicting Kim as fit three months after his reported stroke.

During the visit, Kim praised the reconstruction of the Central Zoo at the foot of Mount Taesong, calling it a treasure of the nation, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said from the capital, Pyongyang.

He noted the zoo houses a variety of animals - some rare - sent as gifts from around the world, and called on zookeepers to make sure to care for them, said the report, monitored in Seoul.