Guest
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un teared up as he delivered an emotional plea to the nation’s women to address the country’s declining birth rate during the first National Mothers Meeting in 11 years. Kim called on women to fulfill their ‘housekeeping duties’ by preventing a decline in birth rates and instilling traditional family (and communist) values in their children. He also said that the mothers meeting was ‘no less important than a party congress,’ highlighting how serious the situation has become. Despite the somber atmosphere, state media images showed his speech being met by a cheering crowd. While it is difficult to get official population figures from the secretive North Korea, South Korea has estimated that the fertility rate in the North has dropped from in 2014, to in 2022. That decline, however, is more shocking when you consider that in 1966, that figure was 6.5. Yet, despite the isolation from much of the world, North Korea’s problems mirror those in the West – women choosing work over family, women marrying later, and a lack of housing for new families. North Korea’s declining birth rate raises concerns about its ability to maintain the large labor force that is crucial to maintain its heavily-sanctioned economy, and large military
