North Korea’s Kim Jong Un wipes tears as he urges women to give birth to more babies

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, known for being a tough taskmaster, was seen wiping tears as he urged thousands of his country-women to have more babies and stop the decline in birth rates. The video of Kim Jong Un dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief has now gone viral. 

"Preventing a decline in birth rates and good childcare are all of our housekeeping duties we need to handle while working with mothers," Kim Jong Un said at an event for mothers in Pyongyang on Sunday.

He urged the mothers to join in to tackle a host of social tasks that the country has been confronted with. Kim Jong Un said that the tasks include bringing up children so that they can steadfastly carry forward their revolution and eliminate non-socialist practices, as well as promote family harmony and social unity, establishing a sound cultural and moral life. 

The North Korean leader thanked the mothers for their role in strengthening national power. He said he often thinks of mothers when he has a hard time dealing with the party or the state’s work.

Extending a fall in the  fertility rates during the recent decades, North Korea’s 2023 fertility rate stood at 1.8, as estimated by the United Nations Population Fund. However, North Korea’s fertility rate has been higher than some of its neighbours who are also dealing with a similar downward trend. 

North Korea has a population of about 25 million people. In recent decades, the country has faced challenges such as food shortages as well as a deadly famine in the 1990s. 

Last week the US targeted North Korea with fresh sanctions after it launched a spy satellite last week. The decision was taken in coordination with Australia, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

The North Korean leader has called for his military to be ready to respond to any provocation by the enemy. After the launch of the spy satellite last month, tensions between North Korea and South Korea escalated, prompting Seoul to suspend a key clause in a 2018 inter-Korean military accord and Pyongyang in retaliation declaring that it is no longer bound by the pact. 

Meanwhile, South Korea too saw its fertility rate drop to a record low of 0.78 last year, while Japan reduced to 1.26. The dropping birth rates have also caused a shortage of pediatricians in South Korea. 

Also read: Kim Jong Un brings daughter touted to be North Korea’s next leader to visit troops