Kim Jong-il's personal train on Russia's Far Eastern railway

The personal train of Kim Jong-il, the chairman of North Korea's Defence Committee, is following on the Far Eastern railway towards Komsomolsk-on-Amur not upsetting the regular train traffic schedule.

The press service of the Khabarovsk Territory administration reported that on Wednesday at 10 a.m. local time (3 p.m. Moscow time) the train is due to arrive in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. There Kim Jong-il intends to visit major enterprises of the Russian Far Eastern defence complex - the Amur shipyard and the Gagarin production association and to get acquainted with their present-day output.

The Amur ship-building plant, which used to build nuclear-powered and diesel submarines, has retained its defence production potential and has also mastered a large variety of production from oil platforms for off-shore drilling to civilian vessels and high-speed boats. The Gagarin association is known in the world by its modern SU fighters; it has also launched the production of a large number of civilian products - from colour TV sets to new-generation amphibious aircraft, the first commercial batch of which is being assembled now.

Kim Jong-il will also make a voyage along the Amur river. Flower-laying ceremonies to the Glory Memorial in commemoration of the city residents who fell defending their mother-country, and also the monument of the builders of Komsomolsk-on-the Amur are being planned.

On Wednesday evening, Kim Jong-il's personal train will leave Komsomolsk-on-the-Amur for Khabarovsk.