Foreign
North Korea urges women to have more children, punishes abortion doctors
North Korea is attempting to slow its declining birth rate by punishing doctors who perform abortions and people who sell smuggled contraceptive pills, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.
Abortion has been illegal in North Korea since the widespread famine of the 1990s killed as many as 2 million by some estimates.
Still, to boost their small government salary, some North Korean doctors have secretly installed medical equipment in their homes to perform abortions, and charge about 30,000 won (US$1.76) per abortion, sources told RFA Korean.
That’s enough to buy 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds) of rice and is the average North Korean worker’s monthly salary – hardly enough to live on.
“There were days when they performed up to three surgeries a day,” a resident who works in the medical sector in the northern province of Ryanggang said on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
But those who get caught are in hot water.
Newborn babies are seen bundled up at the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital during a press tour on Saturday, May 7, 2016 in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Wong Maye-E/AP)
At a “trial” held on Aug. 28 in a conference room at a university hospital, the head of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the Paegam County Hospital who had performed abortions in his home was sentenced to five years in prison, the resident said.
He said another doctor from the Unhung County Hospital was sentenced to three years because in June his patient died while he was performing an abortion at his home.
“Typically, OBGYN doctors go to a pregnant woman’s home to perform abortions in order to leave no trace, but these two doctors … had set up medical equipment in their own homes,” the resident said.
To discourage doctors from earning money by providing private medical services, the government had boosted their monthly salaries more than 40-fold to between 80,000 and 180,000 won ($5-$11), the sources said, but many doctors still provide private treatment.
Alarming decline
According to the World Bank, the country’s birth rate in 2021 was estimated to be 1.81 births per woman, far higher than South Korea at 0.81, Japan at 1.30 and China at 1.16 that year, but still well below the 2.1 birthrate necessary to replace the population.
The birth rate might in fact be even lower, closer to 1.3, according to a paper published in December by Lee Joo Yung, an economist at the Bank of Korea in Seoul.
Alarmed by the declining rate, North Korea has enacted policies that reward families for having more children, including by providing extra food for those with four children or more, and building new homes for families raising six or more.
But it hasn’t worked. In late 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un cried as he spoke at a National Conference of Mothers, lamenting that the country’s birth rate has been decreasing for the past 10 years and imploring women to have more children.
The decline became sharpest during the pandemic, so starting in 2023, private sale of contraceptive pills and devices became illegal.
Conceptive ban
Another Ryanggang resident told RFA that the merchants who sell contraceptives are being “punished in droves.”
“On the 22nd of last month, three vendors selling contraceptives at the Hyesan market had their stalls confiscated and were each fined 300,000 won ($17.65),” she said, referring to a market in the border city of Hyesan.
“At the end of July, two vendors selling Chinese-made contraceptives at the Hyesan market also had their stalls confiscated.”
The merchants were then banned from ever returning to the marketplace to do business, the second resident said.
“All the contraceptives currently being sold by merchants are smuggled in from China,” she said. “Border security has been strengthened further since 2020, making smuggling through the Yalu River and Tuman River unthinkable. However, small-scale drug smuggling is still ongoing through the sea.”
She said fishermen are able to smuggle the medicines in with the daily catch and then the drugs spread across the country.
“The smuggled Chinese contraceptive pill, commonly referred to as ‘Levono’ by the people, costs 20,000 won ($1.17) per pill,” she said.
This contraceptive pill, which is taken once a month, is in such high demand among young women that it’s often difficult to find, she said.
Though RFA was not able to confirm the exact medication, the resident may have been referring to levonorgestrel, an emergency contraceptive marketed in the U.S. under the brand Plan B One-Step, Julie and others.
Banning contraceptives and abortions might not have a major effect on the birth rate amid a growing reluctance among women to get married given North Korea’s harsh living conditions, the resident said.
“Young women need to get married first to have many children, but young women, especially in urban areas, are giving up marriage, so the birth rate is decreasing over time,” she said.
South Africa’s anti-immigration group, March and March, has announced September 30 as a fresh deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave the country, as it staged a protest outside the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Durban on Monday.
The group marched through central Durban under the theme, “It’s time to fetch your people,” calling on African leaders attending the 46th SADC Summit to take back their citizens living in South Africa without legal documentation.
March and March had earlier led nationwide protests on June 30, demanding tougher government action against undocumented immigration and warning that its campaign would continue until its demands were addressed.
Announcing its latest action, the group said the September 30 deadline would mark the beginning of what it described as the “mother of all protests”, while urging South Africans to assist the police in identifying undocumented foreigners.
The protest took place as the 46th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government got underway in Durban, with leaders from the regional bloc’s 16 member states in attendance.
The demonstration has renewed debate over South Africa’s treatment of foreign nationals, particularly citizens of other African countries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently condemned discrimination and violence against foreigners, saying South Africa could not advocate regional integration at the SADC summit while practising exclusion within the country.
The June 30 protests were accompanied by security operations and reports of attacks and looting in some areas, according to police reports cited in the original report.
March and March has continued to demand tougher action against undocumented immigration, while tensions over the treatment of foreign nationals have prompted some African countries to evacuate their citizens from South Africa.
The latest protest has brought the immigration dispute directly to the doorstep of the SADC summit, placing the issue before regional leaders whose citizens are among those affected.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of a US deal with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, while calling on Tehran to surrender.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News journalist Trey Yingst, amid ongoing talks between Oman and Iran over future maritime navigation arrangements through the strategic waterway.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump said, referring to the discussions between Oman and Iran as Washington pursues its own negotiations.
Iranian and Omani officials have been holding talks for weeks, with Iran’s Foreign Ministry saying Monday that both sides were working towards a joint declaration on the strait.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Strait of Hormuz is under US control, despite Iran maintaining an effective blockade that has severely restricted maritime traffic.
On Friday, Trump said he could even declare the Strait of Hormuz part of US territory, prompting Iran to insist that the strategic waterway “will remain Iranian.”
Trump also called on Iran to “put up the white flag of surrender,” according to Yingst.
The Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran to the north and Oman to the south, was previously regarded as an open international waterway and carries a significant share of global energy shipments.
AFP
There has been no known deployment of US ground forces in Iran during the Middle East war, with the exception of a rescue mission in April for a downed American pilot.
Hatami did not provide any details on where or when the killing or capturing of US soldiers was expected to take place.
“Anyone who kills or captures and hands over an invading American military personnel will receive a reward equivalent to $30,000 or 5 billion tomans from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army,” Hatami said, using an informal unit equivalent to 10,000 Iranian rials.
The war between Tehran and Washington began on February 28 after the United States, joined by Israel, attacked Iran. It was followed by an April ceasefire after nearly 40 days of fighting, and a June framework for peace talks that later collapsed.
Iran and the United States have since traded fire sporadically, with fighting mainly centred in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz.
AFP
The family of Philip Ifeanyi Elobuike, an indigene of Eziama Village, Ebe, in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, has appealed to the public for assistance in locating him after his photograph surfaced on social media following nearly two years without contact.
Elobuike first travelled to the United States around 2004 and initially settled in the Los Angeles area of California. He later moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, before relocating to Dallas, Texas.
According to his family, Elobuike remained in contact with his relatives in Nigeria until around 2024, when communication with him suddenly stopped. Before losing contact, he was active on social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
His family had continued searching for him, and on August 11, 2026, they were relieved when his photograph surfaced on social media. The picture provided them with at least some reassurance that he was alive.
Elobuike Philip
However, contrary to reports circulating in some media outlets and on social media, Elobuike has not been reunited with his family or located by his kinsmen in the United States.
His relatives and members of the Nigerian community reportedly spent the entire day on August 12 searching for him in different parts of Dallas but were unable to locate him.
The family is therefore appealing to members of the public, particularly Nigerians and other individuals in the Dallas area, to assist in locating Elobuike and ensuring that he is safely reunited with his family.
The family also urged people to disregard reports claiming that he has already been found and reunited with his relatives, describing such reports as inaccurate.
Anyone who has information about Elobuike’s whereabouts or comes across him is urged to contact any of the following:
Dr. Fred Ngwu: (214) 418-8145
Moses Onyejekwe: (213) 479-2340
Law Okolo: (646) 302-2597
The family expressed appreciation to everyone who has shared his photograph and appealed for continued circulation of the information until he is successfully located.
No fewer than 205 Nigerians were deported from Canada in June 2026 as Canadian authorities intensified enforcement of the country’s immigration laws, according to official figures released by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Immigration removal statistics published by the CBSA showed that 10,607 individuals were removed from Canada during the month, with Nigerians ranking among the top 10 nationalities affected by the exercise.
The figures indicate that Nigerians accounted for nearly two per cent of all removals carried out in June.
India recorded the highest number of deportations, with 3,323 nationals removed, followed by Mexico with 1,573. The United States accounted for 372 deportees, while Colombia and Romania recorded 354 and 293 removals respectively.
Other countries with significant numbers of nationals deported included Bangladesh, with 227, and Pakistan, with 207.
Explaining the rationale behind the removals, the CBSA said enforcing immigration laws was critical to protecting the integrity of Canada’s immigration system.
“Removing individuals who do not have the right to enter or stay in Canada is essential to maintaining the integrity of Canada’s immigration program and to ensuring fairness for those who come to this country lawfully,” the agency stated.
The latest figures underscore Canada’s continued enforcement against individuals found to have no legal right to remain in the country, as authorities seek to ensure compliance with the nation’s immigration laws.
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