North Korean women should fulfill their roles as wives, daughters-in-law and mothers to support their husbands and children in pushing forward the country's prosperity and development, its state-controlled media said in an editorial marking International Women’s Day on Wednesday.

Stressing women’s traditional roles according to Confucianism, the editorial piece published by Rodong Sinmun also said that the women should have many children and raise them to contribute to the country’s wealth and power.

The editorial urged North Korean women to be “flowers of loyalty" devoted solely to leader Kim Jong-un, as well as revolutionary warriors defending his authority.

The secretive regime has celebrated International Women's Day, designated by the United Nations, as an annual national holiday, which some observers believe is an attempt to assert its commitment to women's rights.

However, the international community has expressed serious concerns about the treatment of women and girls in North Korea, who have reportedly suffered from pervasive gender discrimination, sexual violence and the threat of human trafficking for many years.