North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un has been attempting to show off his feminist credentials - by handing out make-up during an airbase visit on International Women's Day.

The enigmatic leader sent his congratulations to the wives of airmen for the global event celebrating women's achievements as he visited a unit of the secretive state's air force and inspected a new power station.

According to a report in a state newspaper, he did not apparently meet any of the women in person - but asked commanding officers to pass on food and cosmetics he brought as gifts.

The supreme leader also came out as an unlikely ambassador for green energy - reportedly speaking about the importance of developing wind, solar and geothermal energy to solve electricity problems in a country where power cuts are a feature of daily life.

Typically, as he inspected the base's personnel hall, he took time to praise his father Kim Jong-Il's "patriotism, faith, anti-imperialist class education and moral education", according to the Rodong Sinmun report.

Geneva-educated Kim, who is believed to be 32, posed for photos with pilots, telling them they should always be combat ready and reminding them of the slogan: "We wait only for the Party's order for missions!"

The visit also took in a tour of training facilities, along with the base's washroom, mess hall, kitchen, greenhouse and mushroom cultivation room.

The leader and his entourage reportedly flew to the site in his private plane - a Soviet-era IIyushin Il-62.