One day in late October, 1987 leader Kim Jong Il told the officials about famous chestnut in Korea during the candid talk with them.
The leader said that chestnut is a famous product in Korea and the Korean people have been fond of chestnut, especially the roast one since long ago.
As a fruit produced in the most parts of Korea except the northern area where it is relatively cold, chestnut is not only appetizing and solid but also tasty and highly nutritive, thus serving as one of the specialties from old days. Particularly, roast chestnut is much tastier than raw or boiled one and joyful to eat as its shell can be peeled easily. Such sayings as “roast chestnut instead of toffee” or “a toffee seller sits with his back to a roast chestnut seller when latter comes.” prove that roast chestnut has been tasty and popular since old times.
Although it is tasty and popular, the people in city, especially big city like Pyongyang that is not a chestnut producer, were unable to enjoy it.
Saying he couldn’t find a stand selling roast chestnuts on the street even in chestnut season, the leader earnestly told them that the citizens in Pyongyang City would be able to have a taste of roast chestnut even only in autumn, the chestnut season, if they paid a little concern to it as roast chestnut is not to fill one’s stomach but for snacking.
He continued that the officials should make it a tradition to sell chestnut to citizens in Pyongyang City.
Thanks to the leader’s ardent love for the people and benevolent measure, new stalls called roast chestnut stalls were installed in every part in Pyongyang City.
