N Korea leader admits food 'problem'

In this photo taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency and released by Korea News Service in Tokyo on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, left, holds a doll made by disabled soldiers, as Kim inspected the Hamhung Disabled Soldiers' Plastic Daily Necessities Factory, South Hamgyong, northern North Korea. The date of his visit wasn't mentioned in the original caption supplied by the Tokyo-based news agency while KCNA reported this visit on Aug. 14. Others are unidentified. (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service)


N Korea leader admits food 'problem'
12 Aug, 2007, 1114 hrs IST, AGENCIES
economictimes.indiatimes.com

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has called for efforts to boost fertiliser production, state media reported, amid concerns of increasing starvation in the impoverished country.
In a rare admission of a "problem" with food supplies, the reclusive leader issued a directive during a trip to a fertiliser complex in the northeastern port of Hungnam, the Korean Central News Agency said late Saturday.
"In order to solve the problem of food (production), a key point in the issue of clothing, food and housing, it is necessary to actively develop agriculture and increase the supply of fertilizers for successful farming," Kim was quoted as saying.
He underscored "the need to focus efforts on the fertilizer production, always bearing in mind the (late) president's proposition that fertiliser immediately means rice and rice, socialism," the agency said.
South Korea has been delivering 400,000 tons of rice aid since the North began shutting down its nuclear programme under a six-nation disarmament pact.
But aid groups here say the shipment will not stop starvation, which has increased since late June due to reduced rations and insufficent foreign food aid.
North Korea suffered famine in the mid- to late 1990s which killed hundreds of thousands, and the country still faces persistent food shortages.
The trip to the fertiliser complex was Kim's 11th public activity this month.
South Korean analysts say Kim has increased public activities in an effort to strengthen his rule on the regime and dispel concerns about his health.
A team of German doctors visited Pyongyang in May, sparking rumours that Kim, 65, might have had a heart operation. This has never been confirmed.
South Korea's intelligence officials say Kim has long been known to be suffering from diabetes and heart problems, but there are no signs of his health seriously worsening.