Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has admitted failing to deliver an acceptable standard of living for the communist nation's people, state media reported on Saturday.
Rodong Sinmun, the official daily newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, quoted Kim as saying much remains to be desired in people's quality of life although the country has become "politically and militarily powerful".
Kim's father, Kim Il-Sung, who died in 1994, has been named as president for eternity of North Korea.
"The President has said that people should be allowed to eat white rice and meat soup, wear silk clothes and live under tiled roofs," Kim Jong-Il was quoted as saying by Rodong.
"But we've so far failed to carry out this goal," he said. "I will certainly resolve the issue of people's livelihood within the shortest possible period and achieve the President's last wish," he said.
It was because Kim Jong-Il wanted to help improve people's living standards that he made a raft of visits to inspect industrial facilities in provincial cities last year, Rodong said.
The paper urged North Koreans to step up efforts to increase production of food and other necessities. North Korea has been suffering chronic food shortages.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, January 09, 2010, 14:06