North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Cries During Recent Address

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un addressed the 5th annual National Mothers’ Meeting in Pyongyang, and he shockingly appeared to shed tears.

Kim Jong Un begged women to have more children to “strengthen the power of the nation.” According to South Korean statistics, the North Korean population is currently estimated to be 25.7 million, but it’s estimated to shrink to 23.7 million by 2070.

Assessments by South Korea’s government show the fertility rate for its northern neighbour has been falling for the past 10 years.

The average number of babies expected to be born to a woman over her lifetime stood at 1.79 in North Korea in 2022, down from 1.88 in 2014.

— Sky News

The North Korean leader appeared to be trying to hold back tears. Yet, he dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief as if he was crying.

Stopping the decline in birth rates and providing good childcare and education are all our family affairs that we should solve together with our mothers.

— Kim Jong Un

The birth rate has declined, although statistics are limited, and many believe it’s due to a lack of money. North Korea is one of the poorest nations in the world. So, the country has introduced benefits, such as food, medicine, housing arrangements, etc., for families to have three or more kids.

Many families in North Korea also don’t intend to have more than one child these days as they know they need lots of money to raise their kids, send them to school and help them get jobs.

— Ahn Kyung Su, head of DPRKHealth.org

Kim Jong Un’s tearful plea to women to have more babies is ironic, considering North Korea introduced birth control programs in the 70s and 80s “to slow a post-war population growth.” Yet, in the 90s, a famine killed hundreds of thousands of North Koreans.