Price of Honey

The following happened one day in 1982, two years after the inauguration of the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital. That day, during a talk with some officials, Chairman Kim Jong Il asked an official whether the maternity hospital supplied honey to the women who had just had a baby.

The official told him about the hospital’ supply of honey to nursing women since its inauguration. 

Very pleased to hear that, Kim Jong Il asked how it was supplied to them. 

The official hesitated, not understanding what he meant.

Kim Jong Il asked if they charged the women for honey. 

The official answered they supplied honey at a low price set by the state. 

At this, Kim Jong Il said in a stern voice: It is wrong for the maternity hospital to get money for honey; Korean women took honey after delivery from olden times; the Party has been providing honey to the women in childbed at the hospital since its inauguration; it is wrong to charge for the honey provided by the Party; from now on, honey should be supplied to them free of charge. 

Later on, the hospital has supplied honey to women in childbed free of charge.