NK Leader Pledges to Raise People`s Living Standards

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has pledged to raise his people’s living standards, a leading daily in North Korea said yesterday.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling North Korean Workers` Party, quoted Kim as saying his country has not implemented his late predecessor and father Kim Il Sung’s instructions on making people “eat white rice with meat soup, wear silk clothes, and live in tile-roofed houses.”

According to a North Korean Web site, Rodong quoted Kim Jong Il as saying his country is politically and militarily powerful, but has much to resolve in improving living conditions for its people.

He said he will tackle the issues “as quickly as possible” to implement his father’s instructions.

His comments are believed to re-emphasize a key point of the North’s joint editorial for the New Year urging a higher living standard for North Koreans.

The Rodong Sinmun also criticized the South Korean government, while the editorial did not. It said Seoul’s description of 2009 as a year of sticking to principles in inter-Korean relations is cause for concern that Seoul will continue pursuing “confrontation” with Pyongyang.

The newspaper also urged South Korea to implement the joint declaration reached at the first inter-Korean summit in 2000 and ditch its “anti-reunification and confrontational policy” toward the North.

zeitung@donga.com