It was quite a sight to behold. But there he was – Kim Jong-un, the dictator of North Korea – being shown on the government-controlled television network crying while speaking at the country’s National Conference of Mothers (NCM) on Dec. 4.
Thousands of North Korean women had gathered for what was NCM’s fifth annual meeting. In his speech to the organization, Kim informed them that their housekeeping duties were twofold – “preventing a decline in birthrates” and taking care of kids. The country’s birthrate currently stands at 1.8 per mother. A minimum birth rate of 2.1 is required just for any nation to maintain its current population level. Any birthrate under 2.1 creates future problems for a country in its efforts to maintain its economic viability.
While Kim thanked the women attending for their role in strengthening the country, he stated he thinks “about mothers when [he has] a hard time dealing with the party and state’s work.” But it was apparently the statement about the country’s low birthrate that caused Kim to sob.
Interpreting Kim’s tearful emotion requires that we understand why such a display should come as a shock. This demands understanding the Kim “persona.”
Kim came to power as a product of a family dynasty that has now ruled the country for 75 years via three generations. As he was educated in Switzerland, experts advised we would probably see a “kinder, gentler” version of the dynasty upon Jong-un taking the reins of leadership. However, upon replacing his father on his 2011 death, observers quickly learned if Kim had a kinder, gentler side, he must be sitting on it. He made no effort to cut back on the brutality characteristic of his father’s and grandfather’s rule. And that brutality would not only be extended to his countrymen but to his inner family circle as well.
It is estimated that during the family’s reign at least 1.6 million North Koreans have had their lives cut short by its leadership.
A South Korean human rights group that has interviewed hundreds of North Korean defectors revealed that people are executed for the most innocent of reasons, with hundreds having been put to death under the current Kim. Seven people were executed on Kim’s orders for simply watching South Korean musical videos.
Defector interviewees reported witnessing the condemned being put to death by a three-man firing squad, which was under orders to fire three shots each at the prisoners. The families of the condemned were often forced to observe.
In 2013, only two years after having taken the nation’s helm, Kim showed he had no issues executing members of his inner circle and family for his own personal reasons. Such was the fate suffered by Jang Song-thaek, who was Kim’s own uncle, after he pushed for reform. Four years later, it was the fate suffered by his older half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, for fear he might lay claim to North Korean throne. The half-brother’s assassination was carried out at an airport in Malaysia.
North Korean rule by the Kim family, ever since the state’s establishment in 1948, is one characterized by starvation, repression and brutality. The suffering both of the North Korean people and the rule of the Kim family seems to be endless. Famines undergone by the North Koreans over the decades have left behind a generation that is smaller in height by at least 6 inches compared to their South Korean brothers.
The report of an emotional Kim Jong-un crying on television as he speaks about his country’s 1.8 children per mother birthrate is totally contrary to the brutal leadership he has exercised over North Korea for the past 12 years. Thus, the only valid explanation for those tears, if they were real, was his realization of the cold, hard fact that in the future he will have fewer people to brutalize and execute.
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
This post originally appeared on WND News Center.