The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un made an opening address at the Fifth National Conference of Mothers on December 3.

The full text of his opening address is as follows:

Dear participants in this Fifth National Conference of Mothers, who are present here on behalf of the seven million mothers of our socialist motherland, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,

As I have always revered and loved our dear mothers, I am very pleased to see you at this significant meeting. To me, it is a really delightful and moving moment.

First of all, availing myself of this opportunity, I would like to extend the greatest respect and offer my best regards to our mothers, who have put their heart and soul into bringing up their children and rendered a great contribution to achieving national prosperity.

Despite the hardships and burdens they had to endure constantly in their life, our mothers have been concerned solely about how to support the country better and look after their families. Standing here in front of you, I feel my heart swelling with respect and reverence for them all.

Conference of Mothers - this is indeed a meeting reminding everybody of their beloved mothers and filling their hearts with deep gratitude for them.

Today, converging on this venue are the warm blessings and feelings of respect from all over the country. You must have undergone many painful trials and shouldered heavy burdens of your own accord, before attending this conference with a sense of unique pride and dignity.

Taking so many heavy burdens upon your feeble shoulders, you have followed the road of your own choice without seeking selfish interests or expecting any reward; sometimes, you must have found yourself collapsing from exhaustion, but each time, you gritted your teeth and rose up to live up to your pure conscience.

You, mothers of our dear country present here, have always overcome all sorts of mental anguish with a simple smile. For your ennobling spirit you are the most beautiful and admirable in the world, though your facial beauty keeps fading away because of the pains you have experienced.

In moments of hardship or difficulty, one would think of their mothers before anybody else, who gave birth to them, fed and clothed them, and helped them with their first steps.

The same is true of me. Whenever I have found it hard to tackle problems in Party or state affairs, our mothers have come to my mind first.

Each time, the thought of our mothers lifts me up and encourages me, the strong-willed women who go against all overwhelming odds for the growth of their children. Even in the face of trials, they have remained unchanged in their confidence in our Party and have been invariable in their lifelong commitment to the country’s prosperity. Thinking of these daring and self-sacrificing women, I would renew my duty that I must keep going even in the midst of exhaustion, sharpen my sense of responsibility and get a fresh strength.

The self-sacrificing devotion which all our mothers have displayed for the good of this country and their spirit and strength have provided nourishment not simply for their own families but for the future of their motherland as well, and this has propelled our great socialist family to dynamically advance by dint of its solid unity based on virtues and tender feeling.

Because the small fences of families, which our mothers have built up with care out of a feeling of patriotism, constitute the cornerstone that firmly supports the country, our great socialist family is solid and our country continues to grow strong.

This is an immortal exploit performed by mothers of Korea for the Party, the revolution and the country.

The current conference is a platform of boundless tribute and congratulation to them, on which the Party and state crown our patriotic and loyal mothers with the laurels of all victories achieved on the onward march of the new era. This is also a political festival which demonstrates once again the justness and promising future of our cause which regards the coming generations that represent the future of the country and mothers as sacred beings and places them first in considering everything.

Availing myself of this meaningful opportunity, I, on behalf of the Party Central Committee and the Government of the Republic, would like to offer my hearty gratitude and best wishes to all those present at the conference and to all other mothers in the country, who are cultivating the happiness of their families and the future of the country with warm feelings and affection and silent devotion.

I also offer my heartfelt thanks and encouragement to the overseas mothers who are devoting themselves to handing down the traditions of the nation and patriotism in alien lands, with their minds turned to the capital city of their motherland, where this large gathering of mothers is being held at this moment.

Dear mothers,

As society develops and becomes cultured, the position and role of women grow more important and mothers’ share of contribution to strengthening the national power and propelling the revolution becomes greater.

Now we are confronted with a host of social tasks that our mothers should join to tackle.

These tasks include bringing up their children so that they will steadfastly carry forward our revolution, eliminating the recently-increasing non-socialist practices, promoting family harmony and social unity, establishing a sound way of cultural and moral life, making the communist virtues and traits of helping and leading one another forward prevail over our society, stopping the declining birth rate, and taking good care of children and educating them effectively. These belong to our common family affairs, which we need to deal with by joining hands with our mothers.

In view of our mothers’ position and role in their families and society as a whole and the actual problems facing our state and revolution, the Party Central Committee considers this conference to be no less important than a Party congress or a plenary meeting of the Party Central Committee.

This conference will make known the positive examples our mothers have set over the past ten-plus years since the Fourth National Conference of Mothers, before holding discussions on the tasks and ways for them to fulfill their responsibilities and role they have assumed before society and their families.

Attending this conference are nearly 10 000 women. They include those who gave birth to many children, who have taken parental care of orphans and sent them to major posts of national defence and socialist construction, who have raised their children as performers of distinguished exploits and as talents, and who have made a great contribution to promoting the good of society and the collective while working faithfully without changing their jobs for several decades, as well as the women’s union officials from the capital and different regions.

Fully convinced that this conference will mark an epochal turning point in ensuring that all our mothers, fully aware of their contemporary mission and revolutionary duty, devote their wisdom, strength and enthusiasm to the patriotic cause for the victory of our style of socialism, I declare the Fifth National Conference of Mothers open.