First Lady Kim Hye-kyung: "Raising a Child Now Requires Support from the Entire Country"

First Lady Kim Hye-kyung Visits Regional Maternal and Child Health Center on Oct. 19
"So Families Raising Children Can Receive Practical Support"

On October 19, Mrs. Kim Hye-kyung met with parents and mothers at a Regional Maternal and Child Healthcare Center, saying, “People used to say it takes a whole village to raise a child. Now, it may be more accurate to say it takes a whole country.”

Ahn Gwi-ryeong, deputy spokesperson for the Presidential Office, said in a written briefing that Mrs. Kim made the remarks during a meeting with families at the Regional Maternal and Child Healthcare Center at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, operated by the Catholic University of Korea, in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Attendees included the parents of quintuplets, mothers who had given birth after fertility treatment, expectant mothers with high-risk pregnancies, and parents of infants receiving treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Mrs. Kim Hye-kyung greets a baby during a visit to the Maternal and Child Healthcare Center at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital in Seoul on Oct. 19, 2026. Yonhap News Agency

Mrs. Kim offered congratulations and encouragement to an expectant mother, saying, “As I looked through the window of the newborn nursery at the babies sleeping peacefully, I felt a deep emotion that is difficult to put into words.” She also thanked the medical staff caring for high-risk mothers and their babies. “I will listen carefully to your stories and share them so that families raising children can receive practical support at every stage of pregnancy, childbirth and parenting,” she pledged.

After listening to the attendees, Mrs. Kim said, “I was deeply moved by the stories of overcoming difficult challenges, including high-risk pregnancies and treatment for premature babies, and by the journey of holding in their arms the lives that came to them as if by a miracle.” She added, “A child being born healthy and growing up is a blessing for a family and the most precious future for our entire society. I will always pay attention and offer support so that the journey of waiting for, having and raising a child does not become a lonely and difficult burden borne only by families with children.”

Mrs. Kim’s visit was arranged to encourage families with newborns and medical staff on the front lines ahead of Pregnant Women’s Day on October 10, and to hear firsthand about the challenges involved in fertility treatment, high-risk pregnancies and childbirth, and caring for premature babies.

Guided by Park In-yang, head of the Regional Maternal and Child Healthcare Center, Mrs. Kim toured key facilities related to childbirth, including the delivery room, family birthing rooms, labor rooms and recovery rooms. She then looked around spaces dedicated to mothers’ rest and treatment, including patient rooms and the high-risk pregnancy intensive care unit, and encouraged the medical staff, saying, “You’re working so hard.” In particular, she thanked the medical staff who had delivered the quintuplets, saying, “You’ve done a tremendous job.”

In the newborn nursery, Mrs. Kim looked through the glass at the babies sleeping peacefully. She also offered warm congratulations and words of encouragement to mothers she met along the way.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.