N Korea leader Kim Jong Un sheds tears as he urges women to have more kids amid birth rate crisis

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looked emotional and wiped his eyes at a meeting of mothers, state television showed. The "5th National Conference of Mothers" was held Sunday and Monday, North Korean state media reported. Kim made speeches at the start and end of the event, drawing attention with a call for more births and more children in his socialist state.

The images of the event broadcast on television followed a familiar format of a giant audience in one of Pyongyang's big halls, cheering Kim's entrance at length. North Korean state media has not openly referred to Kim Jong Un's mother in reports, which are published for an international audience. Foreign experts say that Kim's mother was Ko Yong Hui, a Korean born in Japan.

NEW: North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un starts crying as he begs North Koreans to have more babies.

North Korean birth rates are about to skyrocket 📈

The incident happened at the National Mothers Meeting hosted by the dictator who started dabbing his eyes in an effort to get… pic.twitter.com/F8xg0dZ05J

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 5, 2023

Soon after Kim became leader of North Korea, in 2012 a new "Mother's Day" was established, to be marked every year on November 16. North Korean state media have featured Kim's wife, daughter and sister, in a departure from the coverage of previous leader Kim Jong Il. North Korea's Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui is a woman. But all other top officials are men.