North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has recently put a ban on wearing skinny jeans, sporting mullet hairstyles and some body piercings keeping in line with the country’s crackdown on ‘capitalistic lifestyle’ and Western influences on youths.
State run newspaper had recently warned the nation of doing more to stop “capitalistic culture from seeping into the country”, as was reported by South Korean broadcaster Yonhap news agency.
The agency said that leader Kim Jong-un has also outlawed ‘non-socialist’ hairstyles such as the spike and mullet along with dyed hair. As part of the new laws, men and women can only sport one of the 215 other hairstyles authorised, reports said.
The provincial Youth League has also issued an order on hairstyles it deems proper to sport. Hairstyles such as mullets and spikes have been considered ‘anti-social’.
Ripped or skinny jeans, T-shirts sporting slogans and nose and lip piercings have also been banned. Officials in North Korea are also cracking down on pop music after the popularity of South Korean K-pop bands such as BTS and Blackpink.
The Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper for the nation’s ruling Worker’s Party, recently observed, “History teaches us a crucial lesson that a country can become vulnerable and eventually collapse like a damp wall regardless of its economic and defense power if we do not hold on to our own lifestyle.”
“We must be wary of even the slightest sign of the capitalistic lifestyle and fight to get rid of them”.
The Supreme leader of the country Kim Jong-un has been known for bizarre bans to block out Western influences.