Kim Jong Il, Amid U.S. Sanctions, Extols China’s Economic Gains

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il praised the economic advance of the Chinese provinces bordering his country, which faces tighter U.S. sanctions aimed at choking his regime’s cash line from the arms trade.

“We were deeply impressed and greatly encouraged to see for ourselves the resourceful and hard-working Chinese people in the region,” Kim said in a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, who he met during his Aug. 26-30 trip to China, the official Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday. State media confirmed Kim traveled to the northeastern provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang on his second trip to his closest ally in less than four months.