Kim Jong Un surprised the world with his unusually emotional display in front of North Korean mothers this weekend – but it has now emerged he still managed to show a hint of the execution-loving dictator he is better known as.
Kim cried as he called on women to have more children at a mothers’ conference in Pyongyang, saying it was their duty to revive the country’s stagnant birth rate in order to strengthen national power.
Did Kim Jong Un urged parents to flog their children?
But a transcript of his speech shows he also urged parents to ‘flog’ their children and instruct them towards jobs in the army or hard labour.
‘With their inborn true feelings of flogging their kids with tears in their eyes to bring them up as honest persons, mothers should have no hesitation in making their beloved children work in the difficult and labour-consuming posts and work places,’ he said.
‘It will be mothers’ greatest pleasure to see their children growing up as pillars of the country while realising in the struggle and life how precious our party and social system are,’ he added.
Images shared by state media showed a hall full of women in brightly-coloured clothing at the two-day Fifth National Congress of Mothers in the capital.
Kim was seen overwhelmed with emotion as he ran through an elaborate speech that made rare reference to social and demographic problems within the hermit kingdom.
Birthrates in China
‘Stopping the decline in birthrates and providing good childcare and education are [matters] that we should solve together with our mothers,’ he said.
‘When all mothers clearly understand that it is patriotism to give birth to many children and do so positively, our cause of building a powerful socialist country can be hastened faster’.
In a seemingly highly choreographed emotional plea, the authoritarian leader was seen dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief while addressing thousands of women gathered at a National Mothers’ Meeting in Pyongyang on Sunday.
Kim Jong Un’s plan to prevent a decline in birth rates
‘Preventing a decline in birth rates and good childcare are all of our housekeeping duties we need to handle while working with mothers,’ Kim said at the event, while also urging them to instil the values of his communist party in their children.
Many in the large audience openly wept along with their leader. But it wasn’t all a sombre affair.
Pictures released by North Korea’s state media also showed the adoring crowd clapping and cheering Kim as he waved back from his seat, flanked by male officials in suits and military uniform.
The event – the first National Mothers’ Meeting in 11 years – was put on amid a fall in the isolationist state’s birth rate, which has evidently prompted concern among the DPRK’s (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) top officials.
