N. Korean leader said to reiterate vow to give people rice

SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has said his immediate
ambition is to end his people's dependence on corn for subsistence and feed them
rice and wheat products, state media said Monday.

"I'm the most heartbroken by the fact that our people are still living on corn.
What I must do now is to feed them white rice, bread and noodles generously," he
was quoted as saying in the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling
Workers' Party.
The paper did not disclose when or where the reclusive North Korean leader made
the remarks.
The comments are another rare acknowledgment that the regime has failed to
achieve sufficient living standards for its 24 million people, after Kim was
reported last month as saying that "white rice and meat soups" were still a
long-cherished dream for the general populace.
They also come as the communist state pushes for economic revival after it
concentrated resources on building nuclear arms and missiles and came under harsh
international sanctions last year.
Since the mid-1990s when an estimated 2 million people died of famine, North
Korea has relied on international handouts that included massive corn aid. The
country also suffers from a lack of energy, as it fails to generate enough hard
currency to buy fuel.
According to the Rodong Sinmun report, Kim urged North Koreans to keep their vow
made to his father and North Korea founder Kim Il-sung and build a nation where
its people do not know of such things as corn meals.
The junior Kim, 68, took over the regime after his father died in 1994. Outside
officials say he is working to engineer a back-to-back power succession for his
third son, Jong-un, who was touted as having orchestrated North Korea's
long-range rocket launch last year.
Following the April 5 launch, which the North says was aimed at putting a
satellite into orbit, Pyongyang went ahead with its second nuclear test in May,
drawing an arms trade embargo and other penalties from the international
community.
(END)

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