North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was shown visiting a Pyongyang plant in an official media photograph Tuesday but the date of the visit was not given.

The photograph from North Korea's official KCNA news agency, which was carried by China's official Xinhua news agency, comes a day after it was widely reported Kim is suffering from pancreatic cancer.

A report in North Korea's s official Rodong Sinmun daily accompanying the photograph quoted Kim as urging his people to build a "great prosperous powerful nation" through their own efforts, resources and technology, Xinhua said. The plant was identified as the newly built Taedonggang Tile Factory in the capital.

The photograph showed Kim in shaded glasses, looking stern while being escorted by an official in a suit and an officer in military uniform.

North Korea shocked the world with its May 25 nuclear test, its second since 2006, and further provoked other countries with medium- and long-range missile launches. The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution calling for sanctions but those have only led to more intransigence from Pyongyang.