North Korea: Kim Jong Un appeals to women to have more children

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called on women in the strictly controlled country to have more children.

State-run news agency KCNA reported that the leader of the country gave the charge during an address to the attendees of the National Mothers Meeting.

“Stopping the decline in birth rates and providing good child care and education are all our family affairs that we should solve together with our mothers,” he said.

While commending women for boosting national morale, he said “I too always think about mothers when I have a hard time dealing with the party and the state’s work,” Kim added while referencing the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.

North Korea banks heavily on its population strength to keep its economy in the face of sanctions and isolation from the West.

The country has been struggling with a fertility crisis over the years and has affected its national wallet in a way or another.

South Korea is also facing a fertility problem, although for different reasons than its estranged socialist neighbor to the north. South Korea recorded 0.78 births per woman in 2022, the lowest in the world.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called the country’s low birthrate a “crucial national agenda” earlier this year.

In recent years, South Korea has offered a monthly allowance to families with infants to drive birth rate in the highly industrialised nation.