In a rare and emotionally charged event, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was captured on camera shedding tears as he appealed to the women of North Korea to contribute to the nation’s growth by having more children. This poignant moment unfolded during a national mothers meeting in Pyongyang, where thousands gathered to witness the leader’s unprecedented plea, according to The Telegraph.
Declining Birth Rates
The gathering witnessed an emotional Kim Jong-un, dabbing his eyes with a white handkerchief. The carefully choreographed event left a profound impact as many in the audience wept alongside their leader. The tears shed by Kim Jong-un underscored the gravity of the issue at hand – a concerning decline in North Korea’s birth rate.
The backdrop of Kim’s appeal is the growing apprehension over the declining birth rate in North Korea. South Korea’s government estimates a steady decrease in fertility rates, posing challenges for a nation heavily reliant on manual labor and military service.
During his address, Kim Jong-un explicitly addressed the issue, stating, “Stopping the decline in birthrates and providing good child care and education are all our family affairs that we should solve together with our mothers.” This marked the first time the leader publicly acknowledged the fall in his country’s births.
Population declining
North Korea remains secretive about its population trends, making it challenging to obtain accurate data. South Korea’s unification ministry highlighted the significance of Kim Jong-un’s acknowledgment of the decline in births, indicating the severity of the issue.
According to the United Nations Population Fund and the World Bank, North Korea’s fertility rate has hovered around 1.79-1.8 children per woman since 2020. This decline is notable, considering the higher rates in the late 1960s, followed by a sharp decrease in the late 1990s.
The decline in fertility rates can be attributed to past birth control programs and a major famine in the mid-1990s, estimated to have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. These historical factors have left a lasting impact on North Korea’s demographic landscape.
Interestingly, despite North Korea’s declining fertility rates, they still exceed those of rapidly aging South Korea, which reported a record-low fertility rate of 0.78 last year. This contrast underscores the unique challenges faced by each Korean state.
Incentives
To address the issue, North Korea has introduced benefits for families with three or more children. These include preferential free housing, state subsidies, free essential goods, and educational perks for children. Kim Jong-un stressed the importance of mothers in instilling “socialist virtues” in their offspring.
In his emotional address, Kim Jong-un reminded mothers that their “primary revolutionary task” is to instill socialist virtues in their children and foster loyalty to the ruling party. The leader emphasized the necessity for mothers to embrace communism for the revolutionary transformation of their families.
Kim Jong-un issued a warning against foreign influence on young minds, instructing parents to send their children to engage in hard labor for the state, correcting behavior not aligned with the state’s ideology. This directive reinforces the regime’s commitment to maintaining ideological purity.