PYONGYANG, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), visited an important tank factory, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Sunday.

Kim, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs, stressed that replacing the armored weapons of the last century with latest tanks and armored vehicles is the most important issue in the building of armed forces and modernization of the army, the KCNA reported.

The Academy of Defense Sciences and the workers and technicians of the factory have made remarkable progress and success in developing tanks and armored weapons and improving their combat performance, said the KCNA.

The traveling and different mobile characteristics of tanks were improved through the integrated power transmission device. And the new-type active protection complex, passive protection means and the electronics warfare complex were updated in a more innovative way. All these successes mean great progress in the core technology of DPRK tanks, Kim was quoted as saying. ■