Kim Jong Un howls about low birth rate
A record number of weapons tests and a spy satellite in space - what is seen as a threat in the West is likely to have been a successful year from North Korea's perspective. However, the authoritarian state has a major problem that even moves ruler Kim to tears.
He is the leader of a nation in isolation, he regularly threatens the West and missile tests are intended to underpin North Korea's military might: But when it comes to his country's birth rate, dictator Kim Jong Un is in tears - literally.
At the Women's Congress in Pyongyang, the ruler called for measures to combat the low birth rate in North Korea. Preventing the decline and ensuring good childcare are problems that should be solved in cooperation with mothers, Kim was quoted as saying by state media. "This is everyone's housework," he appealed to the male population. Kim's tears rolled down his face during his speech.
According to the video footage, the audience was almost exclusively made up of women in traditional dresses, who were also moved to tears and nodded to their leader with handkerchiefs in their hands. His performance was celebrated frenetically by the audience.
Kim did not give exact figures on the birth rate. However, the United Nations Population Fund estimates that the fertility rate in the isolated country will be 1.8 in 2023 - based on an assumed population of around 26 million. The fertility rate is the average number of children a woman will bear in her lifetime if the current age-specific fertility rate remains constant during her fertile years. In order for a country's population not to shrink - without immigration - around 2.1 children per woman would have to be born in highly developed countries in purely mathematical terms.
In Germany, this figure has already fallen below the replacement level since 1970, and in 2022 it was at its lowest level since 2013 at 1.46. North Korea has been struggling with a chronic food shortage for many years. A national mother's meeting was last held there in 2012.
With the launch of a spy satellite, North Korea had exacerbated tensions with neighboring South Korea and the USA. Both countries have imposed further sanctions against the authoritarian state. In view of a record number of weapons tests this year, the West sees North Korea as a major threat.
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Despite North Korea's success in advancing its military capabilities with a record number of weapons tests and a deployed spy satellite, causing concern in the West, leader Kim Jong Un is alarmed by a different issue within his country. He publicly addressed the low birth rate at the Women's Congress in Pyongyang, urging collaboration to prevent its decline and prioritize good childcare.
Source: www.ntv.de
