WATCH: Kim Jong Un Cries While Asking Female North Koreans To Have More Babies
Kim Jong Un is a strong man who bravely faces other powerful nations. But there's one thing that makes him cry -- North Korea's birth rate decline.
In an emotional plea during the National Conference of Mothers in Pyongyang on Sunday, Kim implored female North Koreans to bear more children and raise them as communists.
"Preventing a decline in birth rates and good childcare are all of our housekeeping duties we need to handle while working with mothers," the Daily Mail quoted Kim saying while wiping tears from his eyes.
The North Korean leader also called mothers "who gave birth to many children" heroines and "pillars" of the country. He urged them to raise their children to be "ardent patriots dedicating themselves to the important posts of defending the state."
The women in attendance listened intently to Kim, shedding tears at the communist leader's message.
Kim is no actor in a drama series, but North Korea's steadily declining birth rate and population growth rate could easily have moved him to (crocodile?) tears.
According to the United Nations' State of World Population 2022, the hermit nation's fertility rate per woman is 1.9. This decline leads to an aging population, which could lead to a shrinking workforce and possible GDP decline.
Currently, 10% of the country's population are 65 years old and above and only 13% are 10 to 19 years old. With an average life expectancy of 72 years old, this poses problems for the regime.
Life expectancy (from birth) in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from 1870 to 2020
As for Kim, it's not often that the world sees the ruthless dictator show his soft side. But with the declining rate his country's population and birth rate are going, the world could be seeing Kim Jong Un cry more times in the future.
