Men’s “housework” is asked
Kim Jong Un is crying over low birth rates
December 6, 2023, 1:56 p.m
A record number of weapons tests and a spy satellite in space – what is seen as a threat in the West may have been a successful year from a North Korean perspective. The authoritarian state has a big problem that even brings ruler Kim to tears.
He is the leader of a nation in isolation, he regularly threatens the West, rocket tests are intended to underpin North Korea’s military power: But when it comes to his country’s birth rate, dictator Kim Jong Un tears up – literally.
At the women’s congress in Pyongyang, the ruler called for measures to be taken against the low birth rate in North Korea. Preventing the decline and ensuring good child care are issues that should be resolved in collaboration with mothers, Kim was quoted as saying by state media. “This is everyone’s housework,” he appealed to the male population. During his speech, Kim’s tears rolled down.
According to the video recordings, the audience was almost exclusively composed of women in traditional dresses, who were also moved to tears and nodded to their leader with handkerchiefs in their hands. His performance was enthusiastically celebrated 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 reflects the average number of children a woman will give birth to in her lifetime if the current age-specific birth rate remains constant during her fertile years. In order for the population of a country – without immigration – not to shrink, mathematically around 2.1 children would have to be born per woman in highly developed countries.
In Germany, this number has fallen below the conservation level since 1970, and in 2022 it was 1.46, its lowest level since 2013. North Korea has been struggling with a chronic food shortage for many years. The last time a national mothers’ meeting was held there was in 2012.
With the launch of a spy satellite, North Korea increased tensions with neighboring South Korea and the USA. Both countries are imposing further sanctions against the authoritarian state. The West sees North Korea as a major threat given a record number of weapons tests this year.