North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reportedly inspected a spa resort under construction in the west of the country, expressing "great satisfaction" with facilities there.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency said on Friday that Kim visited the Yangdok County Hot Spring Resort in South Pyongan Province.

During the field guidance trip, Kim reportedly said Yangdok is a "striking contrast" to Mount Geumgang on the east coast, where he visited a few days earlier and ordered the removal of all South Korean-built facilities.

Comparing the spa resort to the Geumgang tourist area, Kim reportedly said that the newer facilities display fundamental differences from the architecture of capitalist businesses that target profit-making through roughly-built buildings.

Kim's recent tours of resort areas appear to indicate a desire to develop North Korea's tourism industry and attract foreign investment.

[Photo : KBS News]