This year, too, the DPRK has planned many things to do and put them into practice from the beginning of the year to bring about turns and changes in the development of the country.

Of them all, it gives top priority to and absolutizes the full implementation of the childcare policy, which includes the supply of dairy products and other nutritious foodstuffs to children.

Historically, it has attached great importance to healthily bringing up children, the future of the country.

Already in the period of building a new Korea after its liberation from Japanese military rule on August 15 1945, it spent large state funds on building and running nurseries and kindergartens across the country to establish a public system of nursing and upbringing children. Even during the grim Fatherland Liberation War (June 1950-July 1953), the nursing and upbringing of children continued uninterruptedly under the special concern of the Party and state.

The law on the nursing and upbringing of children, the first law for children, was adopted in 1976, two years earlier than the socialist labour law enacted in 1978 and four years earlier than the public health law introduced in 1980. Thanks to the adoption of the law, the number of nurseries and children who went to them increased 4.6 and 3.6 times respectively in the 1970s as compared to those in the 1960s, the DPRK becoming a country with the largest number of nurseries in the world.

Nutritious foods were supplied to children regularly even during the period of the Arduous March, a hard time for the country.

Laws incorporating popular policies for children were amended and supplemented on several occasions including in 1999, 2010, 2013 and 2014, with state benefits for kids of nurseries and kindergartens increasing with the passage of time.

The DPRK directs a great deal of energies to producing dairy products for children though every penny is more valuable than any time now when the country’s economic situation is still difficult and an ambitious programme for the comprehensive development of socialism should be undertaken.

Underlying all these state benefits for children are the view on younger generation of President Kim Il Sung, Chairman Kim Jong Il and General Secretary Kim Jong Un and their love for the future.

The President put the children forward as the kings of the country long ago.

The Chairman saw to it that the state policies for children were constantly enforced even when the country had hard times.

The General Secretary calculated many things on his pocketbook and ensured that a fishery station was built exclusively for the children of baby homes and orphanages throughout the country in order to supply a sufficient amount of fishes to them. And he took special measures to secure powdered milk to be supplied to children of nurseries and kindergartens across the country.

He is confident that if the children who are born on this land and the rising generations are fed well and grow up healthily in good environment from their childhood, society will be full of that much more vibrant vim and vigour after 20 or 30 years and the national power will grow that much stronger.